Train Operating Companies: Fines

Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on which occasions the Rail Regulator has imposed penalties on rail companies in each of the last three years; what penalty was imposed; on which company it was imposed; for what reasons it was imposed; and to what purpose the fines have been put.

Mr. Tom Harris
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has imposed the following penalties on railway companies in the last three years:

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|    |Penalty (£)|Railway company                   |Reasons                                                                                                                                                    |
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|2006|250,000    |Network Rail                      |Breach of Condition 7 of Network Licence regarding inaccurate infrastructure information                                                                   |
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|2006|4.1 million|English Welsh and Scottish Railway|Infringement of prohibition contained in Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998, resulting in exclusion of competitors from the coal haulage-by-rail market|
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|2007|2.4 million|Network Rail                      |Breach of Condition 7 of Network Licence regarding the Portsmouth re-signalling scheme                                                                     |
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All the penalties levied were paid into the Consolidated Fund. Any penalties on rail companies following prosecution for breaches of health and safety legislation would be determined by the courts.