THE company that owns and manages UK rail infrastructure yesterday admitted health and safety breaches after a train derailment that killed three people in northeast Scotland.

An early morning Aberdeen to Glasgow passenger train came off the tracks in a remote area near Stonehaven after a landslip caused by heavy rain.

The driver of the train, a conductor and a passenger died and six other people were injured in the tragedy, which happened on August 12, 2020. 

Network Rail – an arm of the UK Transport Department – pleaded guilty to safety failings at a court hearing in Aberdeen.

The court was told the public body admitted lapses in the construction, inspection and maintenance of railside drainage, and planning for extreme weather conditions.

“Extreme rainfall” and reports of severe weather, landslips and flooding in the area where the crash happened were forecast on the day of the crash.

But Network Rail failed to impose an emergency speed limit on the line and did not inform the driver it was unsafe or to cut his speed.

The train struck gravel washed onto the line, causing it to derail, decouple and hit a bridge parapet. – AFP, September 8, 2023.