Stonehaven derailment
The Stonehaven derailment was a fatal railway accident that occurred at 09:38 BST on 12 August 2020, when a passenger train returning to Aberdeen hit a landslip, near Carmont, west of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, following severe rain. Of the nine people aboard, three were killed, and six were injured.
| Stonehaven derailment | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of the site on 13 August 2020 | |
Location of accident | |
| Details | |
| Date | 12 August 2020 09:38 BST (UTC+1) |
| Location | Carmont, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire |
| Coordinates | 56°57′09″N 2°19′16″W |
| Country | Scotland |
| Line | Dundee–Aberdeen |
| Operator | Abellio ScotRail |
| Service | 1T08 06:38 Aberdeen to Glasgow |
| Incident type | Derailment |
| Cause | Train striking landslip |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | 7 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Deaths | 3 |
| Injured | 6 (3 serious) |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The accident was the first in the United Kingdom in which a passenger was killed on a train since the 2007 Grayrigg derailment, the first major accident involving a High Speed Train (HST) since the 2004 Ufton Nervet rail crash, and the first fatal accident in which a train hit a landslip since the 1995 Ais Gill rail accident.
Network Rail faced health and safety charges relating to the crash. After pleading guilty at the High Court in Aberdeen in September 2023, the company was fined £6.7 million for its failings.