The Grayrigg train derailment, which left one person dead and 86 injured, has landed Network Rail with the UK’s biggest ever rail-safety fine.
The rail operator appeared at Preston Crown Court (4 April) and pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £4 million and ordered to pay £118,052 in costs. The ORR has confirmed the fine to be the biggest ever imposed on a company for rail-safety failings since its records began.
On 23 February 2007, the high-speed train from London Euston to Glasgow Central derailed on the West Coast Mainline near Grayrigg in Cumbria, after hitting a set of badly maintained points. The only fatality was Margaret Masson, 84, who was travelling in the first carriage, but 28 other passengers were seriously injured.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) investigated the crash and found Network Rail had failed to provide and implement suitable and sufficient standards, procedures, guidance, training, tools and resources for the inspection and maintenance of fixed stretcher-bar points.
Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Swift said: “This was a very serious offence and could have easily led to greater loss of life than actually occurred. I am acutely conscious that no fine, however large, can put a value on the life lost as a result of the Grayrigg derailment, or the pain and suffering of those who were injured on that day.”
The judge confirmed that the penalty would have been £6m, but credit was given for the guilty plea. She said: “The fine is imposed in order to mark the seriousness of the offence and to emphasise the fact that those who bear responsibility for ensuring the safety of the public must exercise proper care.”
