The Office of Rail Regulation has levied a whopping £53.1 million fine on Network Rail for falling short of punctuality targets.
Network Rail agreed that it could not meet targets as it was focusing more on the extension and strengthening the infrastructure of the service.
ORR also said that the operator has failed to keep up with its proposed plan to improve some of its services and evaluate the condition of its key assets.
Network Rail CEO Mark Carne apologised that the company accepts that it has failed to offer service on time and it is partly due to the company failing to reduce its infrastructure faults as quickly as necessary.
He also pointed to the fact that the company has seen a spike in the total number of passengers and that the company has increased the number of trains at peak times even though it was aware of the fact that it may lead to congestion of trains between stations which may lead to compromises on punctuality.
He also added that people preferred less crowded trains and trying to meet that expectation led the company to lose out on punctuality targets.
The fine amount will be used to making arrangements for faster Wi-Fi facilities in commuter trains running across England and Wales. A £90 million plan to offer up to 10 times faster internet is currently underway and the company has up to 4 years to complete the project.
When this project is completed, passengers will not have to wait for the signal but just use the equipment installed along the track.
Transporter Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that it is only fair if the passengers get to benefit from the fine and that is why it is being used on facilitating faster internet. The company has managed to send 87 percent of trains on time while its target was 92 percent.
