Rail company Network Rail has been fined a record £14 million for the New Year delays which hit Midlands train passengers.
The fine was imposed on the infrastructure company by the Office of Rail Regulation which had been investigating the disruption, the most serious of which was on the West Coast Main Line.
Over-running maintenance works hit passengers travelling between the West Midlands and London in early January.
The line remained shut at Rugby, forcing passengers onto coaches and adding at least an hour on to journeys.
The ORR said the fine was “to reflect the serious nature of this breach, the impact it had already had on passengers and rail freight users and the need for the company to take urgent action to improve its approach”.
The other overruns which hit passengers over the festive period were at London’s Liverpool Street station and at Shields Junction near Glasgow.
See today’s Express & Star for more coverage
4 Comments
Whats the good of this - it will only go onto the next bout of ticket rises !!!
bet the shareholders wont pay for this only gainer here is the treasury
1. IAN PAYNE. Network Rail has nothing to do with ticket prices. Train operators set the fares.
Passengers and train operators, such as Virgin, have been a victim of NRs incompetent project management at Rugby. All the regulator’s £14m fine does is take money away from being spent on the rail network and stops further improvements for passengers. All PR bluster and madness from the regulator!
I’m still convinced that somewhere along the line [excuse the pun] the ticket holder will be hit, whether it is Network Rail, train operators, willo the wisp or the magic dragon.
By the way Jimmi James can’t find No 2 in your comments !!