Grayrigg rail fine sets a new record

The fine for £4m that Network Rail received today is the largest health and safety fine ever handed down since the regulator's records began.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) told ITV News that the size of the fine is set by a judge, but that Grayrigg is the largest to date. The other top five prosecutions for rail accidents are:

• Network Rail fined for maintenance failures at Potter's Bar, Herfordshire which resulted in the deaths of seven people - £3m (May 2011)
• Network Rail fined for breaches over the level crossing at Elsenham station, Essex which led to the deaths of two teenage girls - £1m (March 2012)

• Serco Ltd. fined for failing to ensure that trains on the Dockland Light Railway did not hit people who were on the tracks - £450,000 (April 2010)
• Amey Rail Ltd. fined for a derailment in south-west London caused by a lack of maintenance - £300,000 (September 2006)

• LH Access Technology and Border Rail and Plant fined over death of a worker outside Edinburgh Waverley Station - £240,000 each (May 2008)