TIME FOR ACTION ON CARMONT DISASTER

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2023 :: RMTnews 13 RMT called for an end to continual cuts to rail maintenance and renewals after Network Rail was fined £6.7 million at the High Court in Aberdeen earlier this month for safety failings which led to the Carmont train disaster. The company in charge of rail infrastructure in Britain admitted to health and safety failings over the rail crash at Carmont near Stonehaven three years ago which claimed three lives. Network Rail admitted that to failures in the construction, inspection and maintenance of drainage assets and in adverse and extreme weather planning. The company also admitted it failed to impose an emergency speed restriction and failed to inform the driver that it was unsafe to drive the train at a speed of 75mph or caution him to reduce his speed. Driver Brett McCullough, conductor and RMT member Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury died when the train derailed on August 12, 2020. A Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report concerning the train derailment caused by poor drainage work made 20 recommendations to improve rail safety which have been largely ignored. Network Rail had initially agreed to create drainage teams to deal with issues that caused the derailment but it had since abandoned the plans claiming that it does not have to do it. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that although NR had admitted guilt over failings in construction, inspection and maintenance of drainage assets it was still planning widespread cuts to maintenance and renewals. “The company has already effectively ignored most of the recommendations made by the RAIB and now it is cutting back on maintenance, renewals and drainage work. “Instead of fining the publicly-funded body, Network Rail should be forced to halt the culture of continual cutbacks which will inevitably lead to a more dangerous railway. "Network Rail's attitude to safety has been abysmal as currently there is a massive shortage of staff on the ground, sometimes with a couple of people responsible for 100’s of miles of rail track, often located in areas at high risk of flooding and landslides. "Privatisation and the use of profit hungry contractors on the railway has made the whole network less safe and it is our belief that public ownership would be best for railway workers and passengers," he said. The court was told an investigation found that if a drainage channel constructed by Carillion which overflowed on the day of the crash had been built correctly it would have been able to cope with the washout of gravel that led to the derailment. RMT has highlighted numerous areas of concern where a lack of action by the government and Network Rail has increased the risk of a further tragedy. The ORR also “identified concerns with a reduction in volumes of earthworks-specific drainage and Network Rail’s proposal not to use dedicated drainage teams, which is not consistent with one of the recommendations made by Lord Mair on managing rail infrastructure in more frequent extreme weather”. A recent RAIB report about an embankment washout under a passenger train at Haddiscoe, Norfolk also said that the train involved was not prevented from entering the flooded section of track because Network Rail’s flood risk management processes were not effective at warning that the track was at serious risk of flooding. TIME FOR ACTION ON CARMONT DISASTER Network Rail drops plans for drainage teams to prevent derailments caused by extreme weather events DISASTER: The scene of the derailment of the 0638hrs Aberdeen to Glasgow Service just south of Stonehaven which led to the loss of three lives on August 12, 2020.