TSSA questions for rail accident investigation branch over Stonehaven

TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has written to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to "raise questions" relating to the fatal derailment of a ScotRail passenger train near Carmont, west of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire on Wednesday 12th August.

In the letter Cortes stresses he does not wish to speculate "about the events of the derailment, but simply ask a number of questions relating to what happened."

Cortes states - ‘on the day of the accident at Carmont, weather conditions across much of the East Coast of Scotland were atrocious with flooding in places like Stonehaven... Aberdeen services were also mostly cancelled but one question has to be why all trains were not stopped? Why were certain services allowed to continue and not others?’

Cortes also asks ‘whether Network Rail and its contractors have carried out – or plan to carry - any remedial work around the site of the accident given the issue with landslips? More broadly, will the accident report make recommendations about whether Network Rail has sufficient funds and staff to be able to carry out such work given it manages 190,000 earthworks assets?’