Network Rail pleads guilty for Ladbroke Grove crash

LONDON—Network Rail, the owner and operator of the rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom, has plead guilty to charges that it breached health and safety rules relating to the 1999 train crash at Ladbroke Grove in London.

The company, formerly Railtrack P.L.C., plead guilty to the health and safety charge at Blackfriars Crown Court in London today. The company said in a statement that The Ladbroke Grove tragedy was a terrible event for everyone involved. "Lessons have been learnt and the rail industry has changed enormously for the better over the past seven years," it added.

The crash, which claimed the lives of 31 people, happened when a local Thames Trains train passed through a red stop signal and hit a Great Western express train.