A man died when he was hit by a train in a north-east town yesterday.
The accident at Stonehaven led to travel chaos for hundreds of passengers after all trains to and from Aberdeen were delayed.
Officers and paramedics were called to the line close to Stonehaven railway station around 12.15pm, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The northbound train which left Glasgow’s Queen Street at 9.23am – and was heading for Aberdeen – had been just minutes away from arriving at the station.
A team of uniformed officers, forensic examiners and transport police spent more than two hours inspecting the site of tghe tragedy, which happened on a section of the track overlooking homes near the Spurryhillock industrial estate.
As a result all East Coast trains travelling between London Kings Cross and Leeds to Aberdeen were delayed, while ScotRail journeys between Glasgow Queen Street, Edinburgh and Inverurie to the city were also postponed.
Replacement buses were organised to take passengers to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Montrose, stopping at other stations along the way.
A spokesman for ScotRail said: “Sadly, due to a person struck by a train near Stonehaven at about noon today, services on this section of track were disrupted.
“Services started to return to normal from about 2.30pm but there were some residual delays due to trains and crews being out of position.
“We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by today’s sad incident.”
A spokesman for British Transport Police confirmed there had been a fatality.
“Our officers were called to the line close to Stonehaven railway station at 12.15pm on Friday, January 2, after a report that a person had been struck by a train,” he said.
“Colleagues from Police Scotland and Scottish Ambulance Service also attended, but a man was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The incident is not being treated as suspicious, but a report will be will be sent to the local Procurator Fiscal.”
One Stonehaven resident who lives near the track said it was hard to believe something so terrible could happen so close to home.
“Any accident at any time of the year is upsetting, but to happen just two days after New Year is even sadder,” he said.
“It’s the last thing you expect to happen in broad daylight.”
Stonehaven councillor Graeme Clark said the incident was a “horrible tragedy”.
He said: “My heart really goes out to anyone affected by this.
“You know when someone gets hit by a train that they are really going to be hurt very badly or killed and it’s especially sad at this time of year.
“I feel for his family and friends that they have lost him like this, but I also feel for the train driver who must be in a nightmare of a situation.
“He will be affected by this for the rest of his life.”
Meanwhile, police were still searching for a 47-year-old man missing from his home in Stonehaven yesterday.
Paul Bowden is 6ft, and slim with short dark brown hair.
Police are also appealing for information about another missing man who was last seen in the Kincorth area of Aberdeen.
Josh Murison, 24, was last seen on December 27.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Josh is described as being 5ft 9 tall, medium build with short brown hair and was last seen wearing a navy blue ‘Luke’ jumper, navy blue Adidas tracksuit bottoms with white stripes, white trainers with red on them.
“He has a tattoo behind his left ear.”
Police confirmed last night they were still looking for both men.
