A YORK-BASED railway maintenance firm has been fined £500,000 for failing to ensure public safety after two trains were derailed on lines where it had worked.

Senior managers at Jarvis Fastline Ltd failed to carry out basic safety checks after renewal work on the tracks, York Crown Court heard.

Sentencing, Judge Arthur Myerson QC said: "The public are rightly disquieted by such events and failures.

"The fine must contain a deterrent element which sends out a clear warning to other companies."

David Zucker, prosecuting, told the court how Jarvis Fastline, a subsidiary of Jarvis Plc, was contracted by Railtrack for renewal work at Atlas Curve on the Newcastle to Carlisle line and on the Midland main line at Desborough, Northamptonshire.

In March last year, six passenger trains passed safely over the track at Atlas Curve before a freight train with 34 loaded wagons was derailed.

An investigation revealed the derailment was caused by a deformity, known as twist, which happened because the firm's experienced site manager had not ensured proper checks.

In August last year, a 45-wagon freight train was derailed at Desborough by track twist. One derailed wagon disintegrated and others travelled along the line for about 1,500m.

Stuart Denney, mitigating, said: "Nothing I say is intended to detract from the fact that any derailment is a serious matter."

But he said records showed that under Jarvis, derailments had declined.

Rail maintenance was carried out by British Rail until it set up Fastline in 1995 and sold the concern in 1997.

The company had to use the existing workforce without having time to assess its safety consciousness.