Urgent review of at-risk parts of network
NETWORK Rail has been ordered to carry out an urgent ‘resilience review’ across the parts of track deemed at risk of flash flooding in a bid to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.
The rail infrastructure body will inspect trackside slopes after a landslip during heavy rain and flooding is suspected to have played a part in the derailment near Stonehaven.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who travelled to Stonehaven yesterday, has also requested a wider assessment of the impact of the weather on the entire rail network, resulting in an interim report by September 1 and a final analysis in the autumn.
He said: ‘One of the things I have asked Network Rail to do – in the next few hours and days – is to do a very quick resilience check to make sure there is not another situation like this.
‘I’ve ordered a report with an interim on my desk on September 1 where I want them to check the resilience of the whole GB network. A final report will come in the autumn.’
Mr Shapps added: ‘I have spoken to Network Rail. More extreme weather is going to happen, so we are going to have to take a lot of Victorian infrastructure which wasn’t built for this extreme weather and we have to update it to be able to withstand it.’
Network Rail said it will use a combination of its own inhouse engineers, contractors and helicopter surveys to assess dozens of sites with ‘similar characteristics’ to the stretch of railway near Stonehaven.
It will also work with meteorologists to strengthen the information it receives about the threat of flash flooding.
The body also said its engineers were currently reviewing the remote monitoring of high-risk sites with motion sensors and CCTV to test whether or not the system can be improved.
Network Rail boss Andrew Haines joined Mr Shapps in conducting a helicopter survey of the crash site.
However, Mr Haines insisted he would ‘not preempt the outcome of the investigation’.
He said: ‘It is clear the weather was appalling and there were floods and landslips in the area.
‘I have asked my teams to put extra measures in place, from immediate, heightened inspections, to medium-term work with meteorologists, to improve information and forecasting.’
He added: ‘Yesterday was a tragedy, a truly horrific event, and my thoughts remain with everyone affected.
‘Understanding what happened is the key to making sure it never occurs again.’
Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson, who also visited the crash site yesterday, said: ‘They [Network Rail] are well aware of our views about the need to make sure that we are taking forward the right types of mitigations that help to manage a challenge of these types of localised, intense weather events.’