Stonehaven train derailment: Minute's silence to remember rail crash victims

A one-minute silence will be held on Wednesday to remember three people killed in a train derailment in Aberdeenshire.

Train stations across Scotland will fall silent at 09:43 - exactly a week after the crash near Stonehaven was reported to the emergency services.

Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and Christopher Stuchbury, a passenger, died.

The train derailed after hitting a landslip following heavy rain.

ScotRail said the one-minute silence would be observed at all train stations in Scotland and many stations elsewhere in the UK.

Alex Hynes, the managing director of Scotland's Railway, said: "Our hearts remain broken and will do for a long time.

"We hope that by coming together as a railway family, along with the local community and people across the country, we can support one another through this horrendous time.

"The strength of support and offers of help from railway colleagues across the rest of Britain has been a real source of comfort."

The three men were on board the 06:38 Aberdeen to Glasgow service when it crashed near Stonehaven following a night of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

An initial report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said the train turned back towards Aberdeen after reports of a landslip further down the track.

It had travelled more than a mile when it was derailed after hitting a separate landslip.

An off-duty rail worker, who was travelling on the train, has been widely praised for raising the alarm after walking some distance to the nearest signal box.

The first police officers on the scene - PC Liam Mercer and PC Eilidh McCabe - were also thanked for their bravery during a visit to the scene by Prince Charles.

UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps has asked Network Rail to produce an interim report by 1 September.

Network Rail said it would carry out detailed inspections of high-risk trackside slopes with similar characteristics to the site of the Aberdeenshire crash.

Dozens of sites across Britain will be assessed using in-house engineers, specialist contractors and helicopter surveys.

Scotland's Lord Advocate has asked Police Scotland, British Transport Police and the Office of Rail and Road, the independent regulator, to conduct a joint investigation into the accident.

This will run in parallel with the independent safety investigation being carried out by the RAIB.