The fatal Stonehaven crash site resembled a “Hornby train set thrown up in the air”, the UK transport secretary has said.
Grant Shapps made the comparison when the tragedy was raised by Labour as it pressed about privatisation and UK suppliers in the rail industry.
Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury were killed when a ScotRail service came off the tracks in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, following heavy rain on August 12.
Network Rail said the train hit a pile of “washed-out rock and gravel before derailing”.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Shapps said: “I went to the scene of the tragedy.
“I was taken over in a helicopter. It was like a Hornby train set thrown up in the air.
“And our thoughts and prayers are with, not just the three who died, but those who were injured and the emergency workers and the brave people who rescued them.
“Our thoughts are with them all.
“The House will have noticed that I issued the Network Rail interim report on Stonehaven a week or two back which comes to some very important interim conclusions and I’ll update the House further with the full report shortly.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
