Stag vice chairman Carol Bell said: “We have said that there have to be bigger, swingeing fines for companies and it’s good to see that there have been in this case.” Mrs Bell, who was injured in the 1997 Southall train crash which claimed seven lives, added: “There was a record fine (of £1.5 million for the Great Western train company) after Southall and I am pleased that much higher fines have now been handed out. The severity of the fines imposed today on Network Rail and Balfour Beatty over the Hatfield train crash were welcomed by the Safe Trains Action Group (Stag). Mr Justice Mackay said the failures affected a substantial part of a busy high speed line for 21 months. In evidence, some maintenance and track inspection practices were described as a Fred Karno circus and a shambles. The rail which broke – causing the train to fly off the track – had disintegrated. Defective monitoring meant it had been left virtually uninspected in the months before the crash. The prosecution maintained the derailment was an accident waiting to happen and occurred because of a cavalier approach to safety.

Four people died and 102 were injured when the King’s Cross to Leeds train came off the tracks at 115mph on October 17 2000. He said: “No one can predict the future, but the risks of such a tragedy had been reduced by the action of Network Rail. “The elimination of one of the indefensible features of the 1996 privatisation – the separation of the ownership and control of the track from its maintenance – is now gone. Perhaps that is one good thing resulting from this disastrous affair.” Network Rail was convicted of breaching the Health and Safety Act last month and Balfour Beatty had admitted the charge earlier.

Until today, the largest fine ever imposed in the English courts was £2 million on Thames Trains following the 1999 Paddington rail crash. The company had pleaded guilty to two health and safety charges. This summer gas utility company Transco was fined £15 million in Scotland after a leaking gas main led to an explosion that killed four members of a family. Sentencing them, Mr Justice Mackay – who has spent 30 years involved in similar cases – said he had guarded against over-reaction in sentencing.

“But I regard Balfour Beatty as one of the worst examples of industrial negligence in a high risk industry I have seen. “These were breaches of a general duty to the public at large. Something over three-quarters of a million passengers would have been put at risk by passing over this area “Both companies fell below appropriate standards. Balfour Beatty’s failure lay at the top of the scale.” Balfour Beatty is no longer in the business of railway maintenance as Network Rail has taken over from Railtrack and taken maintenance “in house”.