Falling tree warning months before Perthshire train crash

The fallen tree damaged the driver's cab and smashed windows

Railway inspectors warned of an area at "high risk" of falling trees eight months before a train crash there, a report has revealed.

The Perth to Dundee service hit a fallen tree near Glencarse at about 16:47 on 21 May.

The train driver sustained head and arm injuries in the collision, which also damaged the train's cab.

The report said at-risk trees were not cleared as it could not be established who was responsible for the area.

The train was carrying 28 passengers at the time of the incident.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report said the train was travelling at 74mph (119km/h) when the tree came into view.

The driver applied the emergency brake, but hit the tree seven seconds later.

The tree had fallen onto the line in the previous hour as an earlier train had passed the site without incident.

The two-carriage train hit the tree on the outskirts of Perth

The report said the vegetation along the section of line which included the accident's location was inspected on foot on 3 September 2020.

It said: "The inspection identified that there were various lineside trees on that section which presented a high risk to the railway, such that the owners should be notified of the inspection findings and the area re-inspected within one year."

The report said Network Rail attempted to establish if a contractor was responsible for managing the area of land, which is owned by the Scottish government, but was unable to do so.

Transport Scotland said the land the tree fell from was outside the boundary of the trunk road network that it manages and it had been unable to identify anyone who was responsible for managing the land.

'Hidden by undergrowth'

The report said: "The base of the tree which fell was hidden from anyone on the railway side of the boundary fence by undergrowth.

"The portion of the tree that was visible above the fence would have appeared healthy, and it would have been very difficult for Network Rail staff to detect that it was at risk of falling."

The report added that it was not clear from the September 2020 inspection report "whether this particular tree was identified."

It said Transport Scotland had instructed the company which operates the trunk road network on its behalf to inspect the area and "do what is necessary to make the land safe."

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We work closely with landowners along our railway to identify and remove dangerous trees and have a £25m five-year vegetation management programme aimed at reducing incidents such as this one.

"Following this accident, we carried out extensive works to remove third-party trees at this location and other points on the line."