Sheriff Neil Bowie

across safely as the closing sequence had started.

A portion of the tractor/trailer clipped one of the barrier arms.

The driver of the 8.15am DundeeGlasgow Queen Street service had observed the tractor driver entering the crossing area and the arms closing.

“The witness applied the brakes - not the emergency brakes, which were not required - to bring the train to a halt at or near the crossing,” she added.

Network Rail staff attended and, after inspection, the crossing was repaired at “minimal cost” and was back in operation at 10.08am. The train was delayed for just 10 minutes.

The fiscal added that as a result of the incident, the accused was dismissed from his job.

A solicitor for the accused said he was “full of remorse.”

He held a full licence but only for driving tractors, which he had gained when 16.

There was no requirement to pass the theory part of the driving test and the sheriff noted that when the accused had subsequently sat that, he had failed.

The lawyer added: “This is, in many ways, a matter of inexperience on his part rather than anything else.”

His client had “no knowledge” of any level crossings and had not been told of the one at Inchoonans. He had been hauling a load of turnips and it was his first time on that stretch of road.

“As he was approaching the lights, he thought it was a traffic lights system.

“He saw the amber lights and kept on going. The barrier came down on the back of the trailer.”

There was no question of him travelling too fast.

It’s extremely fortunate the driver braked and nothing worse happened