Did you read in the press that Balfour Beatty have been fined 10 million pounds, and Network Rail 3.5 million, in the aftermath of the dreadful accident at Hatfield?

I'm 100% behind people being responsible for their negligent actions - if I have responsibility for something, I don't care to the extent that I'm negligent and people loose their lives when I should have known better - yes, I should be severly punished. But I don't think that's what has happened in this case - certainly in the case of the Network Rail fine

Let's take a look.  Network Rail was created AFTER Hatfield.  It was given ("gifted") the assets of Railtrack - passing those assets from a private company to a non-profit government-owned body.  And it also inherited responsibilities, including a retrospective legal responsibility for health and safety negligence issues of the past. 

So what's the net result?

A fine of 3.5 million pounds is imposed on Network Rail.   How do they raise the money?  From train operating companies, who then have to put their fares up to recover the money in turn, or perhaps trim their services to get more revenue from fewer trains?   Or do they raise the money from their owners - the government - where it might naturally be drawn from the railway budgets, depleting those resources and squeezing other recipients?

I'm very reluctant to say that the money could have been used to subsidise the TransWilts line ... because under the current farnschise and bidding system, there's a scheme whereby a price is set; if negative, it's a subsidy, and if positive, it's a premium payment.   But for sure the money could have been used as an offset against this price.   Requiring the winning bidder in the Greater Western Franchise to pay the government that much less for the privelidge of making money in this part of the country ... and thus be better able to provide a higher quality and frequency of service.

In other words - fining Networkk Rail, in effect, punishes people like us in Melksham by reducing our train service. As the headline in today's Daily Telegraph says ... Judge Imposes Record Penalties, but victim's family say justice has not been done