Work to fix Stonehaven tracks begins
The latest stage of repairs to the railway tracks involved in the tragic Stonehaven derailment has begun.
Network Rail engineers are now re- laying over 500 metres of track following the recent completion of work to repair the bridge and embankment damaged in the accident.
Work wil l c onti nue i nto No v e mb e r a s e n g i n e e r s remove and replace the dama g e d t r a c k a nd r e l ay 400 metres of telecoms cables.
Teams have worked round the clock over the past few weeks to complete repairs to 70 metres of bridge parapets and remove t he crane pad built over the Carron Water for the recovery of the carriages in September.
Network Rail also says that a considerable amount of engineering work is also being c a r r i e d out t o r e pai r a nd extend drainage systems on the railway track and lineside embankments at the site.
The 06: 38 Scotrail Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street service derailed on August 12 after striking a landslip with the devastating loss of three lives - driver Brett Mccullough, conductor Donald Dinnie, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury.
Alex Hynes, managing direct or of S c ot l and’s R ai l way, said: “This is a very complex and challenging recovery and repair operation and it will take time for our engineers to fully restore the track and other infrastructure.
“While we will reopen the line for customers as soon as possible, our focus throughout the recovery process has been on making sure we do all we can to learn from this terrible accident and try to prevent similar incidents happening in the future.”
Scotrail is operating a shuttle service between Aberdeen and Stonehaven and between
Dundee and Montrose to keep customers in the north east moving. A replacement bus service also remains in place between Dundee and Stonehaven, and between Dundee and Aberdeen.
A report following the Stonehaven derailment found that in the four hours before the crash, 75 per cent of Aberdeenshire’s total average August rainfall had fallen in the area.
Network Rail has since introduced a range of additional safety measures, while hundreds of sites nationwide with higher- risk trackside slopes were inspected.