Errors behind rail accident

A COMBINATION of errors caused a railway maintenance machine to "run away" with its operator on board, before colliding with a stationary freight train, investigators have found.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has released its full report on the incident at Drumrosach Farm, near Raigmore, Inverness, in July last year.

The road-rail excavator's operator was seriously injured after he was thrown from the cab.

According to the RAIB, operator errors and a control system failure were the cause.

Failures identified included the machine being placed on the tracks without its brakes on.