UK rail maintenance firm Balfour Beatty and Network Rail were fined a total of 13.5 million pounds ($23.9 million) on Friday for safety rule breaches that led to a fatal train crash north of London in 2000.
Balfour Beatty was fined 10 million pounds and Britain's rail operator Network Rail 3.5 million. London's Old Bailey court also ordered both to pay 300,000 pounds each in costs.
Four people died and 102 were injured when the Kings Cross to Leeds train came off the tracks at Hatfield at 115 mph on October 17, 2000. The accident was blamed on a broken rail.
"No fine or penalty can ever bring back those who have been lost," Justice Mackay said, acknowledging relatives of the crash victims who were in the courtroom for the sentencing.
He said Balfour Beatty's failure to maintain the track was the "worst example of industrial negligence I have seen" and that Network Rail's failings were "lamentable".
Britain's biggest railway union criticised the fines as paltry.
"Compared with the carnage caused, these fines are a paltry amount - and this is recycled public money anyway," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said in a statement.
Prosecutors on Monday dropped charges against four rail workers from Balfour Beatty who were accused of breaching safety rules before the crash.
Prosecutors said railway employees had ignored warnings about cracked rail lines, which led to the crash, and had acted "outside the book" when it came to safety.
In July, the court dismissed manslaughter and safety charges against three executives from former rail operator Railtrack and two from Balfour Beatty.
Railtrack collapsed in 2002 after the government withdrew taxpayers' funds, and Network Rail took over the ownership and maintenance of Britain's network of tracks and stations.
"Lessons have been learnt, and the rail industry has changed enormously for the better over the past five years," Network Rail Chairman Ian McAllister said in a statement. Balfour Beatty said in a statement it had apologised for problems with its track patrolling and inspection activities.
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