Expert: Rail chiefs

Rail authorities face a race against time to prevent more landslips endangering trains, experts warned yesterday.

They voiced fears after it emerged a landslide had hit a Highland line just weeks before last week’s fatal derailment in Aberdeenshire. The 6.38am service from Aberdeen to Glasgow was derailed by debris on the tracks on Wednesday, killing the driver, conductor and a passenger. Now it has emerged a landslide triggered by a flash-flood had caused mud and rocks to cascade onto the West Highland line between Fort William and Mallaig in June. Experts have warned that urgent work needs to be done on the rail infrastructure to avoid further tragedies or disruption to services. Landslips are more common in Scotland because of the terrain and unpredictable weather, and experts have urged rail authorities to take more urgent action to deal with problems caused by global warming.

Railways expert Tony Miles said hard lessons may have been learned from the crash near Stonehaven about which parts of the rail network need to be given priority. Most of the network is more than 150 years old but climate changes are now destabilising land around the tracks in an unprecedented way. Mr Miles said: “This is something Network Rail is looking at urgently because geologists are saying it’s going to happen more often. Stuff that’s stayed in place and been perfectly sound and secure for over a century is suddenly vulnerable. Network Rail

Train derails near Stonehaven on Wednesday, 100 yards after striking landslip, circled

Kenny Elrick