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30/03/2007
Network Rail fined £4m Paddington crash
Network Rail has been fined £4 million for health and safety blunders which led to the 1999 Paddington rail disaster.
Thirty-one people were killed when a First Great Western express train crashed into a Thames Trains service at Ladbroke Grove, west London on October 5 1999.
More than 400 people were injured.
Railtrack, which was replaced by Network Rail in 2002, were responsible for maintaining Britain's railways at the time of the crash.
Blackfriars Crown Court was told that a "catalogue of failures to act" led to the disaster.
Network Rail had previously admitted that health and safety breaches had occurred before the crash.
The company will also have to pay £225,000 in costs.
Jonathan Duckworth, Chairman of the Paddington Survivors Group who was also injured in the crash, said: "It was very clear from the evidence that the corporate culture at Railtrack was very poor indeed when it came to safety. It was not just individuals who were at fault. It was the whole company."
Network Rail chairman Ian McAllister said that the company was sorry for the failings of Railtrack that contributed to the Paddington crash and said that they accepted the fine imposed by the court.
He said: "Network Rail took over from Railtrack in 2002 and completed the installation of an automatic train braking system that would have prevented the Ladbroke Grove tragedy.
"This system, called the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), will automatically apply a train's brakes if it passes a signal at red or approaches one too quickly."
(KMcA/SP)
Thirty-one people were killed when a First Great Western express train crashed into a Thames Trains service at Ladbroke Grove, west London on October 5 1999.
More than 400 people were injured.
Railtrack, which was replaced by Network Rail in 2002, were responsible for maintaining Britain's railways at the time of the crash.
Blackfriars Crown Court was told that a "catalogue of failures to act" led to the disaster.
Network Rail had previously admitted that health and safety breaches had occurred before the crash.
The company will also have to pay £225,000 in costs.
Jonathan Duckworth, Chairman of the Paddington Survivors Group who was also injured in the crash, said: "It was very clear from the evidence that the corporate culture at Railtrack was very poor indeed when it came to safety. It was not just individuals who were at fault. It was the whole company."
Network Rail chairman Ian McAllister said that the company was sorry for the failings of Railtrack that contributed to the Paddington crash and said that they accepted the fine imposed by the court.
He said: "Network Rail took over from Railtrack in 2002 and completed the installation of an automatic train braking system that would have prevented the Ladbroke Grove tragedy.
"This system, called the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), will automatically apply a train's brakes if it passes a signal at red or approaches one too quickly."
(KMcA/SP)
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