Level Crossing Death: Network Rail Fined £450k

Network Rail has been fined £450,000 after a woman died when the car she was in was hit by a train at a level crossing.

The firm and one of its signalmen Adrian Maund were found guilty of breaching health and safety laws over the "entirely preventable" death in the village of Moreton-on-Lugg, Herefordshire.

Jurors convicted Network Rail of failing to ensure the safety of non-employees at the crossing by not installing an automatic barrier locking system.

A trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard such a device would have detected the oncoming train and kept the barriers down.

The victim Jane Harding, 52, who was a passenger in the car died in the collision which happened when the crossing's barriers were raised by mistake.

Mrs Harding's husband Mark, who was driving the vehicle, suffered serious injuries in the tragedy in January 2010.

Maund, from Leominster, Herefordshire, was fined £1,750 and ordered to do 275 hours of community service.

The 42-year-old defendant was convicted in February of failing to take reasonable care for the safety of those using the crossing.

The company will also pay £33,000 and Maund will pay £750 towards prosecution costs.

Sentencing, Judge Melbourne Inman QC said there was a "significant fall in standard on behalf of Network Rail. There was a considerable degree of public risk".

The judge said the firm "failed to do everything reasonably practical to avoid tragedy", adding: "Adrian Maund failed to take reasonable care".

The Harding family said in a statement: "On January 16, 2010 we lost a loving and and devoted daughter, sister, wife and mother to a then 13-year-old son, in an accident we not learn could have been prevented.

"If Jane's passing is to have any meaning, it will be that in future, rail and road users will be placed at the forefront of those in the rail industry whose responsibility it is to ensure the general public's safety at level crossing.

"Safety - not cost - must be the top priority. The cost of any life, as we can testify, is incalculable."

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