Stonehaven crash: Train’s driver Brett McCullough and conductor Donald Dinnie died in Aberdeenshire derailment

The driver and conductor of a ScotRail train who died in yesterday’s derailment in Aberdeenshire have been named.

Train driver Brett McCullough and conductor Donald Dinnie have been confirmed as two of the three victims of the fatal crash.

A passenger, who has not yet been named, also died in the incident, while six others were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

On Wednesday, the 6.38am Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street service crashed near Stonehaven, an area that had been hit by heavy rain and flooding.

Emergency service workers were called to the scene at about 9.40am, with dozens of emergency service vehicles – including an air ambulance – attending.

Aerial shots showed one carriage completely overturned, with a landslip the suspected cause of the crash.

Kevin Lindsay, Scotland organiser for the train drivers’ union Aslef, described how Mr McCullough “thought the world of his family, and his colleagues thought the world of him”.

The 45-year-old leaves behind wife Stephanie and three children, two girls and a boy.

The former gas engineer was said to have been servicing the boiler of an Aberdeen train driver when they started chatting about the job and Mr McCullough subsequently decided to join the railways.

Following the fatal derailment, Network Rail will carry out emergency inspections on higher-risk railway embankments as an immediate precaution.

The checks – which will also involve a helicopter survey – will take place on areas of railway track with earth cuttings that are similar to those at Stonehaven.

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines visited the crash site on Thursday after reportedly cutting short a family holiday in Italy.

“I arrived in mourning, as the whole rail industry is in mourning for the loss of a valued passenger and two dear respected colleagues,” he said.

“Seeing the site only really draws out that sense of real concern for those who have suffered such a tragic loss.

“We have the best safety record in Europe and that is not something that is easily achieved.

“It has been through years and decades of safety improvements – but we weren’t good enough yesterday.”

Last month, Network Rail was warned about not keeping up with extreme weather events after an annual report noted a spike in landslips on Britain’s railways, demonstrating the “vulnerability” of the network.

Mr Haines said: “We have very extensive dialogue with the Office of Road and Rail and that report was merely confirming the conversation that we had been having, because we are concerned about increasing landslips.

“We’ve had a very significant improvement over the last 10 years or so, but this winter we’ve had the second-wettest winter on record and it’s shown that climate change can actually have a real impact on safety.”

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson also visited the site on Thursday and met members of the emergency services.

Mr Shapps spoke to those police officers who first arrived on the scene, as well as viewing the “absolutely harrowing” scene of the crash from a helicopter.

“My heart goes out to the friends and family of all of those who have been involved,” he said.

“This is a horrendous accident and we need to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”

Mr Shapps said the derailment “looks like it’s probably related to a landslip of some form.”

As well as the emergency checks on other lines, Mr Shapps revealed he had also ordered Network Rail to provide an interim report by 1 September on the wider resilience of the UK’s rail network.

Mr Matheson told Sky News there was “no doubt that climate change and these types of intense weather events are having an impact on the transport network, which was not designed to deal with these types of incidents”.

He highlighted how some parts of Scotland experienced a month’s rainfall between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning,

An ongoing investigation into the Stonehaven derailment is being directed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), who are working with a team of inspectors from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and Office of Road and Rail.

Anyone worried about friends or family involved in the derailment is being urged to call the NHS Grampian helpline number on 01224 319519 for advice and support.

ScotRail has warned its network remains severely disrupted due to recent weather and the incident at Stonehaven.

(c) Sky News 2020: Stonehaven crash: Train’s driver Brett McCullough and conductor Donald Dinnie died in Aberdeenshire derailment