News-based aerial footage of the Stonehaven derailment has been focusing on the train and not on the track approaching the derailment...

However, new footage from the @EveningExpress ( https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/video-new-images-shows-scale-of-devastation-stonehaven-train-crash/) shows that the HST did collide with a landslide before derailing.

In shedding some light on the likely mechanism of derailment, I think this does allow us to understand some of the questions that @raibgovuk will need to answer.

There's no point speculating on their conclusions, but I've laid these questions out in the following thread:

Did vegetation management - i.e. the presence of large and medium-sized trees on the side of the cutting - impact on the likelihood of a landslide and therefore play a role in the incident?

Is the proximity of underbridges and overbridges suitably accounted for in risk management of earthworks (embankments and cuttings) and their priority for monitoring and renewal?

To what extent did the "Alliance" design of Janney coupler used on the HST vehicles - which offers poor resistance against lift, yaw and twist compared to modern multi-function couplers such as Scharfenberg-derived designs - contribute to the severity of the derailment?

(The extract above is from the final report of the Ufton Nervet rail crash, which makes for invaluable reading for anyone who wants to be better informed about the suitability of the HST for modern rail operations.) https://twitter.com/GarethDennis/status/1293593281666912257

Would the crashworthiness of modern rolling stock (as opposed to the 50 year old Class 43/Mark 3 designs) have resulted in less severe consequences, particularly in relation to the cab structure?

(Modern cab structures are far more substantial: https://twitter.com/GarethDennis/status/1144318850219032576)

Would a robust kerb or guard rail on the underbridge have restrained the train from derailing down the embankment? Does the risk assessment for the specifying and locating of guard rails on the approaches to underbridges suitably take account of the risk from adjacent earthworks?

There are many more questions that will need to be answered by @raibgovuk, but I've put these here as a collection of my thoughts relating to this tragic incident, in the hope that they might be informative to fellow railway people and journalists. https://twitter.com/GarethDennis/status/1293521786521387008

In terms of the broader picture, here is an interview where - all credit to @SkyNews - I was allowed to really elaborate on the challenges that climate change presents to our railway infrastructure:

This is the most important point: https://twitter.com/GarethDennis/status/1294221704303083520