Network Rail fined £2m for delays

Network Rail has been fined £2m by the rail regulator over train delays and cancellations in 2014-15.

The delays were mainly at London Bridge station, but also in Scotland.

Network Rail's performance on Southern, on Govia Thameslink (GTR) and in Scotland was "below expectations and missed punctuality targets", the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said.

Network Rail has apologised to passengers for "disruption and frustration".

However, it said it had invested more than £11m to "improve performance for Southern and Thameslink passengers" since the start of 2015.

Phil Hufton, managing director of network operations at Network Rail, said: "At London Bridge we are undertaking the biggest and most complex station and track redevelopment ever attempted on Britain's railways - while simultaneously continuing to keep services running."

Commuter chaos

Commuters using London Bridge began to face delays in January due to rebuilding work as part of the government-sponsored £6.5bn Thameslink Programme.

In March, there were chaotic scenes at London Bridge, which rail union RMT described as "life-threatening", as passengers jumped barriers to avoid crushes on the concourse.

The regulator said that Network Rail had failed to liaise properly with operators to understand the extent of the disruption, and had also used flawed data to compile timetables.

It said Network Rail had "significantly underestimated the impact of the Thameslink programme on performance, which was further exacerbated by a timetable that was not robust".

ORR chief executive Richard Price said: "The scale of the delays suffered by passengers was central to our decision to fine."

"The penalty sends a clear message to the Network Rail board: Network Rail must urgently rectify these errors and deliver the reliability of services that passengers have paid for," he added.

Errors in timetabling in Scotland were not picked up due to quality assurance issues there, ORR said.

The fine either has to be paid to the Treasury, or instead, the £2m will have to be used to improve customer services beyond what is normally expected, a spokeswoman for the ORR said.

Job losses?

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said the Network Rail fine was "a ludicrous way to run a railway" as it was "effectively the taxpayer fining themselves". Network Rail is a public-sector body.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "The fines will have to be paid for by axing works ‎or cutting staff, creating a vicious cycle of decline that is self-defeating and will just mean more fines and more cuts in the future, which is a nonsense."

He added that "fragmentation and a proliferation of contractors and agencies on our tracks... are compromising infrastructure projects".

A Network Rail spokesman said that it was too early to speculate as to whether the fine would lead to job losses.

The public sector body has already had to halt some rail improvement works, however.

In June a £500m project to electrify the Midland Mainline was "paused" by the government.