CARMONT DISASTER REPORT

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2022 :: RMTnews 18 The report into the fatal derailment of a passenger train at Carmont, Aberdeenshire, August 12, 2020 by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has made 20 recommendations for the improvement of railway safety including the better management of construction activities by Network Rail and its contractors. In response RMT called for an urgent rail safety summit of the Scottish and UK government’s, rail unions, Network Rail, the rail infrastructure companies and operators to prevent another tragedy on the railways. RMT also called on Network Rail to halt plans to cut thousands of safety critical rail jobs and for action to protect jobs in the rail infrastructure supply chain. The report published earlier this month studied the causes of the derailment of a passenger train at Carmont in which the conductor Donald Dinnie, driver Brett McCullough and passenger Christopher Stuchbury were killed and six other passengers were injured. The union said that the report showed that there were systemic and structural failures in safety caused by fragmentation, poor communication and management and also the failure of the now defunct contactor Carillon. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it was shocking that although the failure of the sub-contractor Carillion was one of the key causes of this tragedy the fact that the company was now defunct means those responsible may not be properly held to account. “There were also systemic and structural failures in railway safety caused by fragmentation with different companies responsible for the management and implementation of safety critical work, signalling, operations and rolling stock. “Ultimately risks will be reduced by creating one unified railway, but meanwhile we are demanding an urgent safety summit, between governments, Network Rail, Operators and the railway infrastructure supply chain to agree steps to ensure this type of tragedy can never happen again. “And we are calling for an immediate halt to plans by Network Rail to cut thousands of safety critical maintenance jobs and guarantees that the necessary investment in the rail infrastructure and modern communication systems to keep the railways safe will take place,” he said. The report found that in the morning of the accident there was near-continuous heavy rain at the site of the accident. As a result, Train 1T08 derailed because it struck debris that had been washed out of a drainage trench. This trench, which had been constructed between 2011 and 2012, contained a perforated pipe that had been installed as part of a project to address a known problem with drainage and the stability of a cutting in that area. However, the drainage system and associated earthworks had not been constructed in accordance with the original design and so were not able to safely accommodate the water flows that morning. RAIB’s investigators found that a low earth bank (bund) had been constructed that ran across a slope leading towards the track. The presence of this bund significantly altered the flow of water such that extreme rainfall would cause a concentrated flow into the steeply sloping section of trench. The evidence indicates that the intensity and duration of this rainfall would have generated water flows into the trench that were sufficient to wash away the gravel fill and the ground immediately surrounding the trench. CARMONT DISASTER REPORT Union calls for urgent safety summit and halt to job and budget cuts to prevent more rail tragedies