Network Rail fined £6.7mn over fatal crash in Scotland

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Network Rail, the state-owned operator of Britain’s rail infrastructure, has been fined £6.7mn after pleading guilty at the High Court in Aberdeen to health and safety failings following a fatal rail crash in north-east Scotland three years ago.

One passenger, the train driver and the conductor were killed in August 2020 when a passenger train derailed after colliding with debris that had washed on to the track following extreme rainfall near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. Six other passengers were injured.

The accident would “be etched on the industry’s mind forever, and make us determined to keep improving the safety of our network every day,” said Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway, an industry grouping that brings together the nationalised operator ScotRail and Network Rail’s Scottish operations.

“To the families of those who lost their lives we would say again how deeply sorry we are that this tragedy was able to happen,” he added. “And to those survivors who were injured, we are very sorry for the pain and distress caused.”

The UK’s main train drivers’ union Aslef called for a change to corporate homicide laws. “People within organisations need to be held accountable, it is them, not the organisation, that makes decisions,” said Kevin Lindsay, the union’s Scottish organiser.

“It is now time for the Scottish government to again consider a change to our corporate homicide laws and make sure that they put in place laws that hold people to account.”

The collision resulted in the first passenger death on the UK railways since the Grayrigg derailment in February 2007, and the first multi-fatality incident since the 2002 Potters Bar rail crash.

The train, which was originally travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow, was returning towards Aberdeen because of a blockage on the line ahead. It was travelling at 73mph when it collided with debris on the track.

Following the collision the train derailed and struck a bridge parapet, according to a report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch. The probe found that debris had washed on to the track from a drainage system that was not properly constructed by outsourcing group Carillion, which has since entered liquidation.

“There have already been a number of lessons learned and industry-wide changes made following this incident and the statutory safety investigation conducted by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch,” said Debbie Carroll, head of health and safety investigations for Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

“To further serve the public interest a fatal accident inquiry has been instructed to examine the full circumstances surrounding these tragic deaths, putting all relevant information into the public domain [to] help avoid such an incident happening again in the future,” she added.