Response to train killing cattle goes off the tracks

It has taken almost four months for the rail authorities to clear up after one of their trains ploughed into a herd of cattle and to ensure a similar incident did not happen in the future.

After reporting that the dividing fence between Walter and Margaret Dandie’s Learielaw farm at Bathgate and the railway line had now finally been renewed, land agent Kenny Robertson. of Robertson Rural in Bathgate, said there were lessons for all farmers with livestock enterprises adjacent to railway lines.

“Farmers should be aware they have obligations if any boundary fence is in disrepair,” he said.

“Anyone who knowingly puts livestock in a field where there is a broken down fence could be liable if there was an accident as a result of the animals breaking out on to the railway line.”

Following the accident in early May when 12 of the Dandie’s home-bred in-calf Belgian Blue and Limousin heifers were killed by a train on the Edinburgh/airdrie line, Robertson has been chasing up the rail authorities to sort matters out.

“The lesson for anyone caught in a similar situation is do not give up,” he said, after spending the past four months dealing with various rail organisations including the Office of Road and Rail Regulator in an effort to prevent a similar calamity happening again.

“No-one in authority seemed to care or accept the seriousness of the situation and take immediate and appropriate action to prevent a possible reoccurrence.

“All the time that no remedial action was taking place, I was petrified that a similar incident could take place with even worse consequences.”

The first battle with the rail authorities was over fencing between land that was in crop and the railway line, with the railway not accepting that rotations could see livestock occupying the same fields 12 months later. Even after winning that argument, another problem arose when the rail fencing squad came on site.

The previous workers involved in disposing the carcases of the animals killed in the accident had just hidden some of the bits in the undergrowth in the railway embankment.

“When the fencing people came across these carcases – some hidden under polythene sheets – they downed tools until the parts had been removed,” said Robertson

Robertson described the response he had had from the Office of Road and Rail Regulator as “pathetic and unhelpful” with a mix of “obfuscation and delay” adding to his frustration.