UK rail firm fined millions over fatal train crash in Scotland

AFP | Aberdeen, United Kingdom

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The company that owns and manages UK rail infrastructure was slapped with a multimillion-pound fine yesterday after admitting health and safety failings which led to a train derailment that killed three people.

An early morning service from Aberdeen to Glasgow came off the tracks on August 12, 2020 near the town of Stonehaven, northeast Scotland, after a landslip caused by heavy rain.

The driver of the train, a conductor and a passenger died and six other people were injured in the tragedy.

Network Rail -- an arm of the UK Department for Transport -- pleaded guilty to safety failings at a court hearing in Aberdeen on Thursday.

Judge Hugh Matthews fined the public body £6.7 million ($8.4 million) on Friday. “No penalty I can impose will come close to compensating those whose lives have been touched by this tragedy,” Matthews said. “The only disposal I have is a fine.”

The judge said that the fine was reduced from £10 million due to the guilty plea as well as the company’s actions after the crash.

The court was told that the company admitted lapses in the construction, inspection and maintenance of railside drainage, and planning for extreme weather conditions.