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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Emma O'Neill & Andy Shipley

Stonehaven railway line between Aberdeen and Dundee to reopen after horror crash

Trains are set to run again on the line between Aberdeen and Dundee as it reopens next week after the Stonehaven tragedy.

The line has been shut since August 12 when a ScotRail service struck a landslip causing a devastating derailment.

Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury died in the crash.

Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland's Railway, said: "We continue to work closely with accident investigators as we seek to learn the lessons of this tragedy and make our railway as safe as possible for our people and our passengers."

Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury died in the crash (PA)

The crash caused extensive damage to the track, a bridge, embankments and drainage systems.

Network Rail engineers have been working to recover the derailed train carriages and repair and reopen the railway.

Work included building a new 900-metre road and temporary bridges over the surrounding farmland, replacing more than 500 metres of damaged track and 70 metres of bridge parapets, and relaying 400 metres of telecoms cables.

Drainage systems and flood defences have been repaired and enhanced, while the railway embankment beneath the crash site has been rebuilt.

The line is expected to reopen on Tuesday.

ScotRail has been operating shuttle bus services between Aberdeen and Stonehaven and Montrose and Edinburgh since the crash.

Replacement bus services have also been in place between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, linking into cross-border trains.

After the crash, Network Rail introduced additional safety measures, including inspections of high risk sites, and launched two taskforces.

Hynes added: "Our thoughts continue to be with the families and friends of Brett, Donald and Christopher, and with the other passengers and colleagues who were affected by the accident.

"Our engineers have been working round the clock to repair and reopen the railway, and we thank all our customers and lineside neighbours for the understanding they have shown during this difficult and distressing event."

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