Carmont fatal derailment: Concern over safety recommendations …
Three people were killed in the Carmont derailment on August 12 2020. (Photo by RAIB)
The rail regulator is "not content" with industry responses to four safety improvements recommended after the fatal Carmont train crash in Aberdeenshire, according to the UK Government body which investigated the derailment.
It comes as drivers’ union Aslef is expected to decide next week whether to lift its threatened boycott of the ageing fleet involved in the derailment after originally setting a deadline[1] of the third anniversary of the incident this Saturday. The union is seeking extra safety measures, while an industry source said it was also lobbying for the trains to be replaced earlier than their planned 2030 removal.
In the crash south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire on August 12 2020, the train’s driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and a passenger, Christopher Stuchbury, were killed after it hit debris washed from a wrongly-built drain onto the track after intense rainfall[2].
The front section of the High Speed Train in the Carmont crash is in the bottom right of the picture, partially concealed by undergrowth. (Photo by John Devlin)
The official report by the UK Department for Transport’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), published nearly 18 months ago, made 20 safety recommendations including over how the rail industry handles extreme weather, inspections of the network and improvements to the 40-year-old type of train involved.
Most of the recommendations were addressed to Network Rail, which has implemented two of them in full, according to the RAIB. An industry group is considering those relating to the train[3] – ScotRail’s Inter7City fleet, formerly known as “High Speed Trains” (HSTs), which it operates between Edinburgh/Glasgow and Aberdeen/Inverness.
A RAIB status report on the implementation of its recommendations[4] said the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which regulates the rail network, was “not content with [the] duty-holder response, [and] further engagement [is] ongoing/proposed” over four of them. It said there were “proposed action plans and [a] timescale for delivery”.
The “duty holder” in one of the recommendations is understood to be ScotRail and other operators of such trains, and that in the three others is Network Rail, which is responsible for tracks and other infrastructure.
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The first of these relates to a review by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) of research into secondary impact protection equipment, such as seat belts and air bags, to reduce the risk of injury to drivers, with a view to their installation if justified.
The recommendations where the RAIB said the ORR was not content with Network Rail’s responses were over ensuring that details of new infrastructure was added to inspection schedules, mitigating the impact of extreme rainfall, and the ability of control rooms to manage operations during abnormal weather. The drain involved in the crash had not been checked after being installed in 2013 because it had not been added to Network Rail’s inspection programme.
Aslef’s national executive is due to meet next Wednesday to discuss its members continuing to drive the trains. It told The Scotsman the meeting had been postponed from last month as it was “making progress on improvements”.
ScotRail is already implementing one of the RAIB recommendations by fitting heavy metal brackets, known as lifeguards[5], in front of the front wheels of the trains to prevent small obstacles from getting under the wheels and causing them to come off the tracks.
The Carmont Rolling Stock Recommendations Steering Group is considering the RAIB’s other recommendations, including the removal of the sharp edges of tables when folded down to reduce the risk of injuries to passengers. It is also assessing the risk posed by the trains lacking “certain modern crashworthiness features” introduced nearly 30 years ago.
Transport Scotland criticises ScotRail owner’s peak fares suspension cost estimate as ‘unhelpful speculation’[6]
Rail engineer Gareth Dennis said: “These trains were the wrong choice in the first place, given that refurbished HSTs were incompatible with future electrification and they had only around a 15-year lifespan.
“In the context of the tragic derailment at Carmont, the RAIB report concluded that, whilst the HST did not cause the crash, it did in all likelihood result in it being fatal. To this end, given their lack of crashworthiness for passengers but particularly for the driver, a plan needs to be set out as to the precise timeline of their replacement."
Aslef Scotland district organiser Kevin Lindsay said: “We’ve nothing to say whilst the talks are ongoing.” He said there would be nothing formal to mark the anniversary, at the request of the families.
A Network Rail Scotland spokesperson said: “Since the derailment we have been working hard to make our railway safer for our passengers and colleagues. We are committed to delivering on the recommendations made by RAIB and have also made other significant changes to how we manage the risk of severe weather to our network.
“In Scotland, we took immediate steps to review how we manage extreme rainfall and have put in place new measures to slow trains down or close lines during extreme weather. We have conducted a full survey of all types of trackside drainage.
“We are rolling out new technologies to help us better respond to extreme weather events and have introduced a new team of weather experts to our control room to provide around-the-clock, real-time analysis on how the weather may affect Scotland’s Railway.”
A ScotRail spokesperson said: “We are continuing to work with all interested parties, and wouldn't want to pre-empt the ongoing steering group work.”
“Ahead of the third anniversary, Aslef had set out its intention to instruct its members to withdraw from driving our HSTs. We are working closely with Aslef to find a solution to this issue. In the meantime, our HSTs will continue in service as normal.”
An ORR spokesperson said: “Network Rail and RSSB have been progressing their RAIB recommendations and our view on its progress is set out in our letter to RAIB of 9 March 2023. We continue to work closely with Network Rail and RSSB on the delivery of these recommendations.”
References
- ^ setting a deadline (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ hit debris washed from a wrongly-built drain onto the track after intense rainfall (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ considering those relating to the train (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ status report on the implementation of its recommendations (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
- ^ fitting heavy metal brackets, known as lifeguards (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ Transport Scotland criticises ScotRail owner’s peak fares suspension cost estimate as ‘unhelpful speculation’ (www.scotsman.com)