In October 2000, four people died in a rail accident at Hatfield. Investigations showed a pattern of poor maintenance. Last week, the owner of the railway, Network Rail, was fined £3.5m. The contractor with day-to-day responsibility, Balfour Beatty, was fined £10m. These are the largest penalties imposed by British courts for such offences.
Has justice been done? Up to a point. Network Rail did not exist at the time of the Hatfield accident. The £3.5m will go not to the victims or their families, but to the taxpayer. The fine and the substantial legal costs will be paid by taxpayers or by other rail users. Balfour Beatty shares are well above their level at the date of the accident and remained unchanged in response to the judge’s sentence and criticisms.
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