"Puny" fine for Thames Trains after crash (From Hillingdon Times)

"Puny" fine for Thames Trains after crash

12:43pm Tuesday 6th April 2004

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A £2 million fine for Thames Train over the Paddington rail crash should be spent on safety improvements, survivors say.

31 people died and more than 400 were injured in the October 1999 crash, when a Thames Trains turbo passenger service passed a red signal at Ladbroke Grove, near Paddington station, crashing into a First Great Western high-speed train.

Thames Trains yesterday received the record fine, along with a £75,000 bill for legal costs, after a one-day hearing at the Old Bailey.

A spokeswoman for the Paddington Survivors Group said the group appreciated the record fine, but felt it was small compared to the profits of train companies.

"The general consensus is that, whilst it is a record-breaking fine, it's quite puny in terms of the profits the companies make," the spokeswoman told Local London.

The parent company of Thames Trains, Go-Ahead group, reported an operating profit of £49 million in the six months to January 2004.

The PSG said it wanted the fine money spent on improving safety on the railway network, rather than being put into the general Treasury fund.

The group also said it was unhappy with the four-year gap between the crash and yesterday's sentencing, saying it had prolonged the grief for survivors and families of victims.

The chairman of Thames Trains said there was a sense of anguish and sorrow throughout the company over the crash.

At a hearing last December, Thames Train admitted charges it breached sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The Health and Safety Executive said its investigation into the crash revealed "serious omissions" from Thames Trains in its driver training scheme.

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