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This penalty has been imposed because the regulator has found "systemic weaknesses" in Network Rail’s planning and execution of engineering work, which it said represented a serious continuing breach of its licence.  

These problems had been exposed in ORR’s investigation into the overruns over Christmas and the New Year.

ORR has received a number of representations on the financial penalty. Network Rail considered the problems highlighted were not systemic and the proposed penalty was unnecessary and excessive.

It also proposed a scheme for it to commit to spending £14m on a series of improvements if ORR mitigated fully the proposed penalty.

Passenger Focus, train operators and others, supported Network Rail's proposed alternative to a fine.

ORR chief executive Bill Emery said: that the board had considered the representations very carefully, but remained convinced that the systemic weaknesses in Network Rail’s approach to the planning and execution of its engineering work were a serious and continuing breach of its licence meriting a financial penalty.

“We consider that to accept Network Rail’s proposal to mitigate the fine in its entirety would reduce the effectiveness of the incentive that penalties place on the company to secure compliance with its licence. We are therefore confirming the penalty of £14m,” he added.

Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said that passengers would be extremely disappointed that the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail could not come to a sensible compromise.

Passenger Focus brokered a package of passenger improvements, mainly focused on boosting the quality of passenger information, which Smith said would have meant some benefit reached passengers from this regulatory action.

“Now £14 million of extra investment has been lost to passengers. Instead of a sensible discussion the posturing by the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail has resulted in the Treasury benefiting, not passengers. This is not the joined up railway and thinking that passengers expect and deserve,” Smith concluded.

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Related links 

• Office of Rail Regulation
• Network Rail