STRATHSPEY EXPRESS

There can be few readers who aren’t already aware of the incident at Aviemore station on Friday 29 September, thanks to the widespread publicity that followed. Even allowing for the over-reaction of the emergency services and the “rolling news” media, a problem involving Britain’s most famous steam locomotive and one of the most prestigious trains running over the national network was bound to disprove the theory that “there is no such thing as bad publicity”. Subsequently, it has emerged that the Flying Scotsman/Royal Scotsman low-speed collision just aggravated operational and financial problems for the railway which were already looming.

The incident of 29th September is still being looked into by the Rail Accident Investigation Board. Their report won’t be concluded until next year but for this and other reasons, it’s obvious that the railway is facing several months of difficulty and uncertainty. The reports by Stephen Muirhead and Duncan Gilmour in this issue tell as much as can be said at present. Our role as an Association is to do our best to help our railway to get through this difficult time as best, we can – individually and collectively.