Rail workers across Scotland will fall silent this week with a memorial plaque unveiled at Stonehaven station on the anniversary of the train disaster that claimed three lives.
Union bosses paid heartfelt tributes to the two staff members and passenger killed on August 12 last year in Aberdeenshire, saying they 'will never be forgotten'.
This Thursday marks one year since that awful day.
To mark the occasion, a special commemorative plaque will be unveiled at Stonehaven station, ASLEF chiefs confirmed.
Disaster struck when the 6.38am train, travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow, hit a landslip which had been washed down on to the track from the drain at Carmont, near Stonehaven.
Heavy rainfall had fallen before the tragedy, with horrific pictures showing the wreckage being probed by investigators for weeks.
Driver Brett McCullough, 45, and conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, were killed in the incident, which sent shockwaves through the country.
Passenger Chris Stuchbury, 62, was on one the way to one of his final shifts at work as the tugboat master on the Firth of Forth when he was killed.
As well as the three people who died, another six were injured when the train derailed with the service, which was particularly quiet due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Prince Charles visited the site during a tour following the incident.
Speaking ahead of the plaque unveiling, Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF’s organiser in Scotland, said that efforts would be 'redoubled' to ensure safety on our railways.
He said: ‘It is with enormous sadness that we remember the event, which is still fresh and raw in all our minds, of Wednesday, August 12 last year, which claimed the lives of three people – the driver, Brett McCullough, 45; the conductor, Donald Dinnie, 58; and a passenger, Christopher Stuchbury, 62 – and in which six other people were injured.
"The accident cast a long shadow across the railway industry, not just here in Scotland, but throughout the United Kingdom.
"We will never forget Brett and Donald, who were doing their jobs, and Christopher, who was going about his business, but we will redouble our efforts to ensure that the railway is made safe for passengers and staff so that accidents of this sort do not happen again."
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF said: 'It is right that we take a moment on Thursday, August 12 to remember the lives of Brett, Donald, and Christopher.
"But we will also reflect on what needs to be done to ensure that the infrastructure of Britains railways is not neglected, so that accidents of this sort do not happen again.'
Network Rail’s interim report on the crash found that the train “struck a pile of washed-out rock and gravel before derailing”.
A Rail Accident Investigation report, published by The UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT), has detailed how contractors working on a bridge at the crash site heard a “loud rumbling noise from above” and “ran as the derailed vehicles fell down the embankment”.
Fundraisers collected more than £140,000 to support the families of the three men killed in the derailment following the tragedy.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
