Rail safety watchdogs repeatedly ignored drivers’ concerns about the model of train at the centre of the deadly Stonehaven crash, the Daily Record can reveal.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) rejected calls by train drivers’ trade union ASLEF for a probe into the decades-old HST fleet two years before the tragedy.
ASLEF raised concerns with ORR chief inspector Ian Prosser about the HST’s ability to withstand high-speed crashes.
Now the union claims lives could have been saved if its warning had been heeded.
Kevin Lindsay of ASLEF said: “There was an opportunity to intervene and we were given the brush-off.
“Chief Inspector Prosser basically said the trains meet the standards and, as such, there is no issue to investigate.
“Hindsight is a wonderful science but maybe he should be looking at himself and saying, ‘Maybe we got that wrong.’
“Just because something met the safety standards when it came in doesn’t necessarily mean it should still be allowed to run 40 years later.”
Driver Brett McCullough, passenger Christopher Stuchbury and conductor Donald Dinnie died when the train hit a landslide near Stonehaven in August 2020.
A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found failings by Network Rail and Carillion led to the crash.
The train derailed after hitting gravel and stony material washed on to the tracks by intense rain due to faults in a drainage system.
But the report also suggested the victims might have survived had the train been more modern.
The model that derailed at Carmont was a high-speed train (HST) first introduced in the mid-70s.
Investigators concluded: “RAIB considers it more likely than not that the outcome would have been better if the train had been compliant with modern crashworthiness standards.”
Letters obtained by the Record show ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan highlighted safety fears in 2018.
In a letter to the ORR, Whelan raised concerns about the HST’s continued use at a time of increased speed limits.
He added: “At least one report produced a number of years ago assumed that the fleet would be replaced by now, and also questioned the safety of the driver if involved in a high-speed collision.
“ASLEF therefore wants to see an up-to-date report on the crashworthiness of HST power cars before we agree to their operation past 2020.”
Prosser replied: “I don’t have the evidence to support action by my inspectors to require the industry to produce a report on the crashworthiness of the HSTs.”
Whelan shot back: “This issue has been raised because rail safety has come a long way since 1975 when the HST sets were first designed and nobody expected them to still be in service some 40 years later.
“Given that our members who are affected by this matter have not been reassured by your initial response I write again to insist a report be commissioned into the crashworthiness of the HST fleet.”
Prosser responded: “We have no reason to believe that the integrity of this fleet has been compromised over the years, and without evidence that the trains are not fit for purpose we are not in a position to oblige EMT [East Midland Trains] to make further detailed investigations, nor to commit our own resources to that task.”
Whelan wrote for a third time to Prosser: “If the report confirms that they are safe it will provide our members with reassurance, whereas should the report recommend remedial action, this can then be planned for and
acted on.”
Lindsay, ASLEF’s organiser in Scotland, said yesterday: “I think the responses were just not acceptable. We raised legitimate concerns and asked them to investigate the crashworthiness.
“They disagreed and two years later we have a crash.”
He added: “Why did the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland think it was acceptable for Abellio to bring them to Scotland? Scotland deserves better than that.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar demanded answers at Holyrood yesterday.
He said: “We are seeing more and more evidence warnings were ignored and due diligence was not carried out.
“These outdated and unsafe trains were nodded through by all involved, from the ORR to ScotRail to the Scottish Government. These letters raise fresh questions for them all.”
“If we are going to learn the lessons of this travesty, we need to start by replacing these trains and making sure every train on Scotland’s railways is up to standard.
“The victims and families at the heart of this tragedy deserve real answers and accountability, and we cannot rest until they get it.”
An ORR spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and Brett McCullough at this time and as the Rail Accident Investigation Branch report makes clear, lessons must be learnt.
“It is a strength of our rail system that safety standards improve over time to ensure our railway remains one of the safest in Europe. The arrival of a higher standard does not render earlier designs unacceptable and in 2018 we had no evidence to suggest that the High Speed Train should be subject to any review of its crashworthiness.
“We welcome RAIB’s recommendations and we will work with industry to ensure these recommendations are addressed quickly and effectively. ORR will begin a review in order to identify if there are reasonably practicable improvements that can be made regarding HSTs.”
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