Investigation into tragic Stonehaven derailment begins

Fire crews at the scene of the incident yesterday.

Officials have pledged to find out what caused a train to derail in Aberdeenshire, killing three people and injuring six.

Driver Brett McCullough, and conductor Donald Dinnie died along with a passenger when the 06.38 Aberdeen to Glasgow service came off tracks near Stonehaven on Wednesday.

The train is believed to have been hit by a landslide in an area hit by major flooding at Carmont.

Photographs of the scene showed the scale of the devastation, as a further six people were taken to hospital after the crash at 09.40 yesterday morning.

At least 30 ambulances and an air ambulance were present at the scene.

Investigators are now trying to determine the cause of the crash.

British Transport Police, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and inspectors from the Office of Rail and Road – the independent regulator – are involved in the investigation.

Colleagues of those who died are now paying tribute.

Mr McCullough, 45, was a former gas engineer who decided to switch careers to train driver after servicing the boiler of a railway worker, sources told PA.

A union official said colleagues “thought the world” of him, as he leaves behind wife Stephanie and three children, two girls and a boy.

He had been a train driver for seven years.

Colleagues told PA he was servicing the gas boiler of an Aberdeen train driver when they started chatting about the job and he decided to join the railways.

A rescue helicopter arrives at the scene of the Stonehaven derailment yesterday.

Kevin Lindsay, Scotland organiser for the train drivers union Aslef, said: “The tragic accident at Stonehaven has affected everyone in the railway family. Brett thought the world of his family, and his colleagues thought the world of him.”

Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, ScotRail’s managing director Alex Hynes, said: “Yesterday was a devastating day for everybody who works in the rail industry in Scotland.

“Our love and support is sent to the victims of this accident and their families, those that were injured in the accident and anybody who was touched by yesterday’s terrible tragedy.”

The Queen, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have led tributes to those killed in the “tragic” incident.

In another message of condolence, sent to the Lord Lieutenant of Kincardineshire, the Queen said: “It was with great sadness that I heard of the train derailment earlier today in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.

“The Duke of Edinburgh, and the entire royal family, join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have died and those who have been injured.”

Scotland’s Transport Secretary Michael Matheson is due to arrive at the site of the crash later.

Responding to media reports that inspectors were warned about a rise in landslips in the weeks before the crash, Mr Matheson told BBC radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme that they would look at conditions in the run up to the tragedy.

He said: “What I do know is that the rail network are experiencing increasing challenges across different parts of the routes – not just here in Scotland but right 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.”

Mr Matheson said in recent years there had been “significant incidents”, including last year when part of the West Highland line was washed away just outside Crianlarich following an intense downpour.

He added: “And we saw just over the course of the night from Tuesday into Wednesday morning, some parts of the country have a month’s rainfall in the course of a couple of hours.”