FAMILIES WILL SUFFER FOR REST OF THEIR LIVES

Network Rail accused of 'frankly astounding' negligence Widow of conductor says death 'turned life upside down'

- SARAH VESTY

RAIL chiefs have admitted a series of catastrophic mistakes before the Stonehaven rail crash that claimed three lives.

Now the families of victims of the derailment have demanded changes in the law to prevent another tragedy on Scotland's rail network.

Network Rail pled guilty yesterday to major health and safety failings before the crash that left driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, dead.

At the High Court in Aberdeen the company admitted:

• Failing to protect workers and passengers from the "risk of serious injury and death from train derailment".
• A failure to maintain a drain on the Dundee to Aberdeen railway line near Stonehaven.
• Inadequate training and planning for "extreme weather events" and failing to tell driver Brett the line was unsafe due to sludge on the tracks.

Network Rail, a government-owned company which operates the UK's rail infrastructure, was yesterday accused of a "frankly astounding" catalogue of negligence leading up the crash.

Lawyer Neil Davidson of Digby Brown, who represented seven people affected by the disaster, said: "The errors of Network Rail have robbed families of their loved ones and left survivors with physical injuries and psychological trauma they will suffer for the rest of their lives.

"The prosecution will be vindication for those affected that this incident was avoidable and should not have happened. We can't forget that this derailment did not just happen because of one problem or issue - it was a frankly astounding volume and variety of negligence that contributed to this national tragedy.

"There were failures connected to drainage ditches, paperwork, staff communication, crisis management at a senior level and a weather monitoring system that frankly wasn't fit for purpose due to staff not being trained to use it."