Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Stonehaven rail crash: Aberdeen train station falls silent for first anniversary of disaster

The familiar thrum of activity at Aberdeen train station was broken for a minute this morning, as passengers and crews paid tribute to the three men killed in the Stonehaven rail crash a year ago today.

At 9.43am on August 12, 2020, a landslip resulting from an intense rainstorm caused a ScotRail train to leave the tracks at Carmont, just south of the Aberdeenshire town.

Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury lost their lives in the disaster.

The crash shook the north-east community, and left a lasting mark on what an LNER manager described as “the railway family” around the country.

LNER staff prepare to lay wreaths at Aberdeen station.
LNER staff prepare to lay wreaths at Aberdeen station. Picture by Paul Glendell

Today, to mark the first anniversary, representatives from ScotRail and LNER visited Aberdeen railway station for a brief ceremony.

Two wreaths from LNER were laid at platform 4, where the train left at 6.38am on August 12.

Not long afterwards, an announcement was played on the station’s speakers naming Mr McCullough, Mr Dinnie and Mr Stuchbury and informing passengers that a minute’s silence would be taking place.

Rail bosses wearing shirts and ties and engineers in bright orange boiler suits then fell quiet, in a scene that was replicated in stations around the country.

Workmen and staff at Aberdeen station observe the one minute's silence.
Workmen and staff at Aberdeen station observe the one minute’s silence. Picture by Paul Glendell

On tracks across Scotland, where safe to do so, trains stopped for a minute, with drivers given a script to read out asking their passengers to respect the silence and remember the three men who died last year.

Edinburgh Trams also announced their service would be pausing for a minute in solidarity with their “friends” at ScotRail.

Meanwhile, in Stonehaven, the families of those three men were holding a private ceremony with Railway Chaplain for North Scotland Dereck Grant, laying wreaths at a new memorial plaque.

Gareth Fowler, a skills and competency manager at LNER, attended the Aberdeen ceremony and said the disaster affected everyone in the railway industry – no matter which company they worked for.

He said: “It’s a cliche in the railway, we always say we’re one big family, and we genuinely are.

“We look out for each other. It doesn’t matter what name is down the side of that train.

“I hope the families take that away with them – through this tragedy, they will be supported by the railway family and we’ll look after them through these difficult times.”

Brett McCullough, Chris Stuchbury and Donald Dinnie, who died in the Stonehaven rail crash a year ago today
Brett McCullough, Chris Stuchbury and Donald Dinnie, who died in the Stonehaven rail crash a year ago today

Alex Hynes, managing director at ScotRail, said: “Everyone at Scotland’s Railway will always be broken-hearted about the terrible accident at Stonehaven.

“Today, exactly a year on, we pay tribute to Brett, Donald and Christopher, who lost their lives, and also, of course, we remember those who were injured.

“We come together as Scotland’s Railway family and we send our love and support to everyone, particularly the loved ones of the deceased, who have been affected by the tragedy. We will never forget.”


With the co-operation of those closest to this tragedy, our Impact investigations team compiled a 14-part series, The 6:54 from Stonehaven, looking at the human impact of the crash, the circumstances that led to the incident, and hail those who responded so magnificently in the hours, days and weeks which followed.