Santa Express on hold after Flying Scotsman shunt

Friday's accident happened while the Flying Scotsman was being coupled with carriages

A railway charity has put its Santa Express service on hold following an accident involving the Flying Scotsman at Aviemore.

The village's Strathspey Railway usually runs its festive train experience from the start of autumn.

But the charity has suspended the service until it has assessed the implications of Friday's shunting incident on its railway line.

Two people were hurt in the collision involving a Royal Scotsman train.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and Office of Rail and Road (ORR) are investigating the accident.

It has been described as a low-speed "shunting incident" which happened while the Flying Scotsman was being coupled with carriages.

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Strathspey Railway's Santa Express is one of its popular visitor experiences.

The charity said: "We have to assess and understand the implications of Friday's incident and consider any advice arising from the RAIB and ORR investigation from which we will move forward.

"As a regulated business, it is the right and proper thing to do.

"Furthermore, staff have been given time out or are busy dealing with refunds and communicating with disappointed customers."

A carriage from a train involved in Friday's collision was loaded on to a lorry on Monday morning

The National Railway Museum, which owns the Flying Scotsman, said the shunting incident involved its locomotive and Royal Scotsman train carriages.

A man and a woman were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness following the crash, but were later released after treatment for minor injuries.

A number of people were also assessed at the scene but did not require treatment.

On Monday, a carriage from the Royal Scotsman train was loaded on to a lorry.

Police Scotland said it had concluded its inquiries, and had found there was no criminality involved.

The Flying Scotsman had been scheduled to be running passenger trips over the weekend, but was withdrawn from service for safety checks.