Taskforces launched by Network Rail in wake of Stonehaven tragedy

Two independent taskforces have been launched by Network Rail in the wake of the Stonehaven train crash.

World-renowned experts will lead groups focusing on helping the organisation better manage its earthworks such as cuttings and embankments, and its understanding and response to severe weather events.

It follows the derailment at Carmont on August 12, which claimed the lives of Brett McCullough, Donald Dinnie and Christopher Stuchbury.

Dame Julia Slingo FRS, former chief scientist at the Met Office and an expert in climatology, will lead a weather action task force with the objective of better equipping Network Rail to understand the risk of rainfall to its infrastructure, drawing on the latest scientific developments in monitoring, real-time observations and weather forecasting.

Meanwhile, Lord Robert Mair CBE FREng FRS will spearhead an earthworks management task force to see how Network Rail can improve the management of its massive earthworks portfolio, looking at past incidents, latest technologies and innovations and best practice from across the globe.

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: "The Stonehaven tragedy resulted in three people losing their lives - this is a stark reminder that we must never take running a safe railway for granted.

"With more and more extreme weather and tens of thousands of earthwork assets across Great Britain, our challenge is massive. And while we are making record investment in these areas, we have asked world renowned experts, Dame Julia Slingo and Lord Mair, to help us address these issues as effectively as possible, and at pace."