Train crash inquiry 'could last 9 weeks'

Probe into deadly derailment in 2020 due 'within 18 months'

- Richard Elias

A FATAL Accident Inquiry (FAI) into a train derailment which claimed three lives could last up to nine weeks, a hearing has been told.

The tragedy happened almost five years ago and led to a series of safety recommendations to prevent any similar accidents.

It involved an Aberdeen to Glasgow train which derailed at Carmont, near Stonehaven, after hitting a landslide following heavy rain in August 2020.

The 06.38 train hit the landslide in an area where a drainage system had been incorrectly installed.

The service to Glasgow Queen Street had been unable to complete its journey due to the conditions and was returning to Aberdeen.

Timeline

Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, all died.

At a preliminary hearing held virtually from Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, Alex Prentice KC, representing the Crown, said it would be a “large and complex” fatal accident inquiry.

During a previous preliminary hearing, Mr Prentice suggested the FAI might last around 12 weeks but yesterday he revised that timeline.