From BBC Scotland today, the above and:
The inquiry into a train derailment which killed three men in the north east of Scotland could now last under a fortnight, a hearing has been told. The Aberdeen to Glasgow train came off the rails at Carmont, in Aberdeenshire, on 12 August 2020 after it hit a landslide following heavy rain.
Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died in the crash. Network Rail was later fined £6.7m after admitting a series of failings which led to the deaths. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77z5538zeko
What is Network Rail? Who are they responsible to? Are they the Scottish nationalised railway service? Is it the Scottish Transport Secretary? The BBC Scotland report like many before seems to content to leave with that understandable impression and one probably shared by many. It happened in Scotland, get Swinney to explain what he is going to do about this tragedy.
The Stonehaven rail disaster is the responsibility only of Network Rail responsible only to the [UK] Secretary of State for Transport. The Scottish Government cannot be blamed for it
Throughout the above BBC Scotland report and many before, there is no mention at all of the key fact that responsibility for the rail infrastructure is entirely with Network Rail and that:
Network Rail is responsible to the [UK] Secretary of State for Transport, currently Heidi Alexander (Labour) and at the time of the accdident in 2020, Grant Shapps (Con), as it is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the [UK] Department for Transport. T
The reader is left with the impression that this ‘Network Rail’ may well be, in the absence of clarification, the responsibility of the Scottish Government. At the time of the accident, in 2023, BBC Scotland’s James Cook tried the same trick in a attempt to shift blame onto the SNP Government by shouting at Michael Matheson, Scottish Transport Secretary as if he was responsible.
On BBC Scotland’s The Nine in August 2020, James Cook, repeatedly interrupted the Scottish Transport Secretary, Michael Matheson to say:
Well, exactly! Well, that’s rather the point! Isn’t it. We hear that are these problems. In 2014, a report specifically mentioned this exact area being greatly affected by earthslips. A report last month warned that there had been over six times more flooding events in the year to 2019/20 and earthworks failures nearly trebled. Did you read that report? And if so, what action did your government take on it?
For whatever reason, Matheson did not expose Cook’s misrepresentation of the responsibilities for rail infrastructure and allows him to burst in again with a further implication.
Let’s be clear. Rail infrastructure is a reserved matter, presumably in case the UK Government ever feels the need to use it for some strategic purpose which the Scottish Government might object to and try to obstruct.
Full responsibility for the funding, the maintenance, the inspection and the warning to operators of risk, lies with the UK agency Network Rail which in turn is responsible, only, to the UK Minister. The report was a report for that UK minister and though the Scottish Government may or may not have received a copy, it could not have acted upon it.
Why was Cook not aggressively asking Grant Shapps, the UK Minister for Transport, the questions he misleadingly threw at Matheson?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Sorry to say-I’ve never heard a spokesperson for the SNP take the opportunities presented to them! Not only do they not rebut these poor excuses for journalists they clam up and allow these people to go onto the next lie.
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They are a soft touch and they need to get a backbone and start shouting very loud about how the UKEngGov is responsible for this sort of terrible, lethal, avoidable accident in Scotland. Most people will believe that Network rail is under ScotGov control, in Scotland.
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Having said that, we all know who controls the ‘media’ and therefore the narrative and their SNP bad stories…though erm do we know now? tRump? Scary face emoji…
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I think it’s a deliberate strategy to appear mature, responsible and open to criticism. I don’t know if it’s working.
John
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Presumably BBC Scotland refused to pay Cook’s bus fare to London to ask Shapps that question.
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The discredited biased BBC. Now the story
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Whatever the rail accident inquiry concludes regarding responsibly/liability and regardless of BBC Scotland’s motivation here, it’s relevant to note that the relationship between Network Rail in Scotland, Scotrail and the relevant Scottish Government agency, Transport Scotland is a bit more complex and closer that perhaps implied here.
In October 2024, Network Rail and ScotRail signed a strengthened ‘Alliance Agreement’, committing to closer integration ‘to enhance the safety, reliability, and sustainability of Scotland’s railway network’.
The text of the original Alliance Agreement signed in April 2014 can be inspected here: https://railholdings.scot/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AllianceFrameworkAgreement-NetworkRailandAbellioScotRailLimitedsigned.pdf
Regarding the updated agreement, an article on the ‘railholdings.scot’ web site in March 2024 has this from the ScotRail Managing Director: “The best way to deliver a safe, reliable, and green railway in Scotland is for ScotRail and Network Rail to work together as much as possible, while recognising that we remain two separate companies.”
“The signing of a strengthened Alliance Agreement is a great opportunity to work even more closely with Network Rail. We are committed to greater integration to ensure the best possible service for our passengers and freight customers.”
And this from Network Rail Scotland’s Managing Director: ‘Through taking more opportunities to work together and collaborate, we can continue to develop a safer and more reliable railway, which will be to the benefit of Scotland’s economy, our environment as well as our passengers, customer and colleagues long into the future.’
The Network Rail website has this (October 14, 2024) on how the Alliance works in terms of governance: ‘Oversight will be provided by the Alliance Board, which is attended by representatives from ScotRail, Network Rail, Scottish Rail Holdings, and Transport Scotland.
‘There is already integration and close collaboration in a number of areas, including the Integrated Control centre, a joint climate action plan, and the work underway to replace ScotRail’s train fleet over the coming decades.’ So it seems there has for some time been a degree of operational integration as well as co-operation over more strategic matters.
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