Network Rail has launched two independent task forces in response to the Stonehaven crash. Former Met Office chief scientist Julia Slingo will lead a review into the impact of heavy rainfall on the railway.

The train involved in the Stonehaven disaster crashed into a landslip, causing it to derail and slide along the ground for 90 metres, investigators have found.

A burnt-out passenger carriage lies vertically down a grassy embankment in rural Aberdeenshire. Above it, workers in high-viz jackets and hard hats are taking notes as they investigate what led this passenger train to derail.

Three people have died in a train derailment in Aberdeenshire with six people also injured. British Transport Police (BTP) said those pronounced dead at the scene near Stonehaven include the train’s driver.

A train driver is believed to have died and there are fears of a second fatality after a train derailed in Aberdeenshire amid heavy rain and flooding, industry sources have said.