RailDirector December 2020

Dealing with tragedy on the railways

As investigations continue into the tragic Stonehaven train derailment, Network Rail’s Liam Sumpter and Ross Moran open up about the mindset and emotions on the day

It is the news that no one ever wants to hear. In amongst control messages about the impact of heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight on the railways in Scotland was a message reporting that a passenger train had derailed at Carmont, near Stonehaven.

It led to the declaring of a major incident, with dozens of emergency service vehicles racing to the ScotRail train which hit a landslide and derailed.

Tragically three people – driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury – lost their lives, and six others were injured.

Whilst investigations continue, Liam Sumpter, Route Director for Network Rail Scotland, and Ross Moran, Head of Operations for Network Rail Scotland, have spoken honestly and openly about dealing with the tragedy and the impact in the days and months after.

“It was around 9.45am when I saw the control message saying there had been a derailment involving a passenger train, as I was getting my head around all the incidents going on after a night of thunderstorms and heavy rain,” said Liam.

“Immediately it was clear it was serious and in the coming minutes there were a couple more control messages saying there were reports that the train was on fire.

“The first thing I did was contact Alex Hynes (Managing Director of Scotland’s Railway), who was with the Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson at the time, and I emailed the Chief Executive.

“I drove straight to control on the basis that I knew the incident itself was over three hours away and I’d be no use in a car for that amount of time getting to a remote location. I knew straight away that my role was to go into control and try and coordinate things from a senior leadership perspective there.”

Liam said that as he pulled into control it brought back memories of his time as Regional Director at Northern (Arriva Rail North), when he was responsible for the management of Manchester Victoria station on the night of the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena in 2017.

“Looking back to 2017, the arena was just above the station and my team were the very first responders to the bombing. I was thinking ‘Crikey, it doesn’t seem like two minutes since I had to deal with something tragic.’

“I can’t compare Manchester and Stonehaven, but what I did know is that these things mercifully don’t happen too often, and I knew a lot of the team would be dealing with something like this for the first time so we had to make sure there was support available.

“I started to reflect on ‘What did I learn from Manchester?’, ‘What do I need to remember?’, and really trying to get a clear picture in my head of what needed doing and who I needed to speak to.”

Whilst Liam was at control, Ross Moran had immediately arranged for staff to be on site ahead of making his way to Carmont – a three-hour drive – to lead the operation at the scene.

He himself had also experienced major incidents during his time at CalMac, with three boat collisions into piers.

“Drawing on both mine and Liam’s experiences, and a senior operations colleague who experienced the crash at Ladbroke Grove, we knew inherently that when these things happen you’ve got to keep calm and think strategically about how you are going to manage it and look to what resources you have in place,” said Ross.

“I’m not going to lie though – the drive to Carmont was quite stressful as I just wanted to get there. Fortunately, I had a colleague with me who drove so I could keep my ear to the ground and I also used it as a chance to unplug for a second to think about what I needed to do when I arrived on site. The pen and paper were out, and I was making lists.”

Gold command

A gold command was immediately set up and those working in control were in regular contact with those on site. Whilst Ross made his way to Carmont, Liam and Alex Hynes worked together splitting up responsibilities and making sure everyone was being kept informed with what was going on and what decisions needed to be made.

Liam said: “Looking back it is strange as in those early hours you just don’t have time to think about the tragedy itself. The focus is on the calls you need to make and the jobs you need to do.

“We had set up a gold command quite quickly and it was clear that there were multiple different things for us to be thinking about. You’ve got the incident itself, the rest of the network and the people side of things.” Arriving at the site on the day of the derailment, Ross describes the scene as rather surreal.

“Overnight there had been thunderstorms and rain, but when I arrived it was clear blue skies, sunshine and it was warm, like a day in Spain,” he said. We drove over the hill and you came around to see smoke belching out of a cutting, more fire engines than I had ever seen in my life, and police everywhere.

“But despite the number of people and vehicles because of what had happened, there was a high degree of coordination and I have to give great credit to one of our initial responders who had appointed himself as rail incident officer. There was control of the situation in who was going in and out, what the access was, and there was absolute focus to preserve all the evidence.”

Whilst Ross handled the challenges on site, for Liam and Alex it was about directing things from control.

Team challenge

“We spent a lot of the day sat in control supporting the controllers and challenging ourselves as a team to make sure we were asking the right questions and making sure we were managing the rest of the network appropriately,” said Liam.

“We were also very conscious to make sure anybody involved, in any way, was being looked after, and speaking with HR and safety teams to arrange counselling in case it was needed. That was a big learning point from Manchester.

“The day itself absolutely flew by and it was one of those days you get to 4 or 5 in the afternoon and think ‘I’ve not had anything to eat since breakfast’.

“For me on the day I felt very much still in the mode of having a job to do, and even when I got home I didn’t really give myself the time to really think about the horror of it and the tragic loss of three lives.”

Support from the railway family

One thing Ross and Liam both were keen to stress was the support they received on the day and in the following weeks and months from family, friends and colleagues. “We talk a lot about the railway family and it can sometimes feel like a cliché, but in these situations it does come true because you really feel the need to be there to support your people and them you,” said Ross.

Liam added: “I can’t say enough about the amount of support people were offering, it was amazing. That railway family that Ross mentions is incredible. Everybody comes together and offers help. Although in a lot of cases we didn’t need the help, what we really needed were the offers and just knowing that people were out there who can support us and have got an appreciation of the challenges being faced.”

Ross said: “Same sentiments from me. The support from top to bottom on Scotland’s Railway is phenomenal and the amount of messages I received was overwhelming. One thing that made it peculiar is that we have the ongoing COVID pandemic and on the day of the incident there was the local lockdown in Aberdeen.

“Having seen a few incidents in my time and knowing the way people respond, we’re tactile and we’re human, and when people are upset you give them a hug or a handshake and that just hasn’t been possible.

“That added a strange sense on site because you are having to maintain two-metre social distancing when you can very obviously see that someone is upset. You have to find different ways to reach out which in that scenario was through kind words instead of a handshake or a hug.”

Recovering in the days and months after

The railway line at Carmont reopened last month after engineers worked around-the-clock since the incident, initially supporting the accident investigation before beginning work in September to recover the derailed train carriages and, subsequently, when the site was handed back to repair and reopen the railway. The trains may be back running, but Liam and Ross say their thoughts remain with the families and friends of the three who died, as well as those injured or affected by what happened.

“We need to continue to make sure that we are vocal in offering support to people who need it,” said Liam. After Manchester, it was well after a year after the incident that people who were involved were still getting quite regular counselling. More than anything some people just wanted to be able to talk about it and share their experience.

“I also think it is important that once this beastly pandemic is over that we do take the opportunity to see the signaller that was up closest to the derailment and that will be one of my first stops. To have a chat and offer support. It is easy to feel as though you are being forgotten about when the world starts to move on. Offering that support is going to be really important for us.” Ross said: “It is the weeks and months after which can be the danger zone for those involved in the incident, when things start to slow down.

“We were quick to act to get counsellors engaged and set up to support colleagues who were involved. There is no weakness if you are struggling. The support is there, and I would urge anyone who needs it to access it.”

Both wanted to finish the interview by praising everyone involved in the incident and for getting on so professionally with their jobs on the day and in the days afterwards. They also expressed their thanks to everyone who sent messages of support and offers of help. In closing, Liam and Ross said: “Three people lost their lives that day, two of our own railway family, Brett and Donald, and our passenger, Christopher.

“We will always remember them as we learn from this tragic accident.”

Ross Moran

Liam Sumpter