The ScotRail train that crashed near Stonehaven travelled nearly 100 metres (330ft) after derailing due to a landslip, before striking a bridge parapet and falling down an embankment, accident inspectors have found.
Three people including the train driver and conductor died in the accident near Carmont, about four miles west of Stonehaven, on Wednesday. It was Britain’s worst rail disaster since 2002.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said the front power car, with the driver’s cab, and the third passenger carriage fell from the rail tracks while the first and second carriage were overturned.
The first official account of the accident came on Friday as Network Rail refuted reports there had been a long delay before the emergency services were alerted at about 9.40am, with the crash occurring in a remote rural area with poor mobile reception.
A spokeswoman said that while the exact facts still needed to be established, it was “categorically untrue” that more than 10 minutes had elapsed before the first calls, which are believed to have come from various sources including rail workers, members of the public, and an off-duty train crew member onboard.
The accident occurred after intense rainfall and amid reports of flooding. The ScotRail service had departed on time from Aberdeen at 6.38am for Glasgow and left Stonehaven on schedule, before being stopped near Carmont by a signaller due to reports of a landslip further south. After a long wait for clearance, the decision was taken to return north. The fatal accident occurred minutes later, as it hit another landslip after travelling 1.4 miles north.
Simon French, the RAIB chief inspector, said: “Thankfully, fatal derailments are a rare occurrence on the UK’s national network. However, landslips and other earthworks failures remain a risk to trains that needs to be constantly managed – and this is becoming even more challenging for the rail industry due to the increasing incidence of extreme weather events.
“We have an expert team at the site of the derailment who are gathering the evidence that is needed to understand what happened, and why. They share my determination to pursue every line of enquiry, to analyse the evidence, and to identify important safety learning.”
The train’s driver, Brett McCullough, and conductor, Donald Dinnie, died along with a passenger, Christopher Stuchbury. A further six people onboard were injured.
