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Scottish minister warns of climate challenge after Stonehaven crash Scottish minister warns of climate challenge after Stonehaven crash
(about 3 hours later)
Michael Matheson points to increasing intense weather after train derailment kills three people Michael Matheson points to increasing extreme weather after train derailment kills three people
The climate crisis is presenting increasing challenges for rail safety, Scotland’s transport secretary has said after three people died in a derailment in Aberdeenshire following a night of thunderstorms and torrential rain. The climate crisis is presenting increasing challenges for rail safety, senior transport figures have warned, as family and friends paid tribute to three people who died in a derailment in Aberdeenshire following thunderstorms and torrential rain.
The train’s driver, Brett McCullough, and conductor Donald Dinnie lost their lives along with a passenger when the 06:38 Aberdeen to Glasgow service came off the tracks and slid down an embankment at Carmont, just west of Stonehaven, on Wednesday. A further six people of a total of 12 onboard were injured. The train’s driver, Brett McCullough, and conductor, Donald Dinnie, died along with a passenger when the 6.38am Aberdeen to Glasgow service came off the tracks and slid down an embankment near Carmont, just west of Stonehaven, on Wednesday. A further six people were injured, two of whom remain in hospital, both in a stable condition.
The Scottish fire and rescue service said four firefighters were injured while dealing with the “hazardous and difficult scene” of the crash, which included a half-burnt carriage. McCullough, 45, was described as a devoted family man who moved from Bromley in Kent to north-east Scotland to marry his wife, Stephanie, and switched careers after a conversation with an Aberdeen train driver in 2011.
North-east Scotland was badly affected by torrential rain on Tuesday night. Minutes after the derailment is believed to have taken place, Network Rail Scotland tweeted a video of flooding elsewhere in the region alongside warnings of a landslip at Carmont. On Facebook, friends and colleagues described Dinnie as “an absolute gent” who “always had a smile”, recalling his sense of humour and “Donaldisms”.
The Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson, told Good Morning Scotland that investigating authorities would look at the conditions before the crash. Visiting the site of the accident on Thursday, the Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson, said that it was reasonable to presume that the weather had had an impact on events, adding he hoped that investigating authorities would advise whether efforts to address the challenges posed by extreme weather events should be stepped up.
“The rail network are experiencing increasing challenges across different parts of the routes, not just here in Scotland but across the UK, due to what is an increasing number of very intense localised weather events that have a significant impact on the infrastructure that they have within the rail network,” he said. “[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.”
A key first point for investigators – who include the British Transport Police, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) – will be to check how fast the train was travelling. “I think one of the things we will see from the investigation is whether the pace of that type of mitigation work needs to be stepped up; that’s not just a challenge across Scotland, it’s across the whole of the UK.”
Sources have said it was presumed to have been travelling at normal service speed before encountering the obstruction. Network Rail’s chief executive, Andrew Haines, announced a series of immediate additional safety measures, including inspections of dozens of sites with similar trackside slopes and risk profiles to the Stonehaven line, as he too visited the scene.
While the exact timeline has yet to be established, it is not thought that there was a long delay between the ScotRail train’s derailment and emergency services being alerted at 9.40am. Haines said: “I will not pre-empt the outcome of the investigation into this awful event, but 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.”
The train was running late after leaving Aberdeen and would have spent a long time in manoeuvres after coming across an initial obstacle – it is not clear whether this was flooding or a landslip, or both – on the line near Stonehaven. At her daily coronavirus briefing, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that lessons should be learned from the accident, and thanked the emergency services for “immense professionalism and dedication to duty”.
The driver requested permission from signallers to use the adjacent track, and walked through the train to the rear locomotive to head back north. She added: “Of course, I’m thinking particularly of the bereaved families who face an experience that all of us dread – coming to terms with the sudden and tragic loss of a loved one. No words can ease their pain nor the awful reality that they are now forced to confront. But the hearts of a nation are with them today.
After switching tracks at the first possible point, around 2 miles north, the train was again proceeding southbound to Glasgow on the alternative track and had passed the point of the first blockage when it derailed. “What we can do right now is send them love and support, and in doing so I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone across Scotland.”
The crash occurred in a rural area with poor mobile reception, but emergency services were alerted by a crew member who contacted signallers using Network Rail’s trackside fixed phone line. Kevin Lindsay, Aslef’s organiser in Scotland, said that McCullough, who had three children and lived not far from the scene of the crash, was working as a gas fitter when he started to talk about the railways while servicing the boiler of an Aberdeen train driver.
Matheson sought to reassure the public, saying: “These tragic events are very rare. It’s now some 13 years since someone was killed on the railway network in the UK because of an incident of this nature, and safety standards over the last 20-30 years have increased significantly to make the railway network one of the safest in Europe.” “Brett was fascinated by what he heard, successfully applied for a job, did his driver’s training for a year to earn his key, and entered service with ScotRail in December 2013,” said Lindsay.
“He was a dedicated train driver, who loved his job, and was very popular at the depot with his colleagues.”
McCullough’s family described him as “the most decent and loving human being we have ever known” in a statement. “Words cannot describe the utterly devastating effect of Brett’s death on his family and friends. We have lost a wonderful husband, father and son in the most awful of circumstances.”
Investigators, which include the British Transport Police, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), will establish the exact timeline – which remains uncertain – including the length of delay between the derailment and emergency services being alerted at 9.40am.
The ScotRail train had turned back after encountering a landslip near Carmont on its way from Aberdeen to Glasgow. The driver requested permission from signallers to return along the track, and walked through the train to the rear locomotive to head back north. The train derailed before it reached nearby Stonehaven.
The crash occurred in a rural area with poor mobile reception. According to some reports, a member of the public alerted emergency services before a crew member contacted signallers using Network Rail’s trackside fixed phone line.
Speaking following a visit to the scene on Thursday morning, the UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said he had asked Network Rail to carry out a quick resilience check and compile a more comprehensive check of its network. “We absolutely must make sure we learn every possible lesson from a tragedy like this,” he said.Speaking following a visit to the scene on Thursday morning, the UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said he had asked Network Rail to carry out a quick resilience check and compile a more comprehensive check of its network. “We absolutely must make sure we learn every possible lesson from a tragedy like this,” he said.
Network Rail said it would carry out supplementary inspections of dozens of sites with similar trackside slopes and risk profiles to the Stonehaven line.
Network Rail was granted an extra £900m in its 2019-2024 budget period specifically to address the resilience of the railway infrastructure in the face of changing climate. A spokesman said: “Understanding what caused this tragedy is key to our programme of making the network more resilient to extreme weather events.”
An interim report is normally produced within a week outlining the main factors in a rail crash, although the full RAIB investigation into all underlying and contributory causes could take a year.
Ali Chegini, the director of system safety and health at the Rail Safety Standards Board, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have seen an uptick in earth failures in the last couple of years and that is a tendency that is likely to continue as we get more and more frequent weather events.”