In November 2010 we reported that our expert, Rod Newbery, had given evidence at the Inquest into the Potters Bar rail crash. Six passengers and one pedestrian were killed when a train derailed in 2002 following failure of points on the busy East Coast mainline. Click here to read the original news item.

Network Rail were prosecuted and found guilty of breaches of Health & Safety legislation leading to the crash. It was announced today, 13 May 2011, that Network Rail have been fined £3M.

Acting for the Office of Rail Regulation, Nicholas Hilliard QC said: "There was an expectation that they [points that led to the derailment] should be maintained properly, but they were not."

When announcing the sentence, Judge Andrew Bright QC said that maintenance of the rail network required "constant vigilance" and that the fine needs to reflect that Network Rail failed in that duty.