Network Rail has been fined £150,000 after an Oxford incident in which a maintenance worker’s leg was severed when he was struck by a train.

David Coles was testing track points at the Kennington Junction near Hinksey when a train hit him on May 23, 2008.

In a separate incident, worker Charlie Stockwell was killed in Twyford, Berkshire, when he was struck by a train while conducting welding work in April 2007.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) investigated the incidents and decided to prosecute Network Rail for breaches of health and safety.

It found that Network Rail had failed to ensure the safety of its employees working on the sites.

ORR deputy director of railway safety Tom Wake said: “Network Rail’s poor planning and inadequate management of track maintenance work on the railway in the Thames Valley area led to the death of one worker and the serious injury of another in two separate, yet similar, incidents.

“We acknowledge that Network Rail has made a number of changes to improve safety for track workers since these incidents. But as the failings were significant, Network Rail must be held to account.”

The company has since reduced the amount of work carried out when trains are running.

It was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £32,500 at Reading Crown Court, after pleading guilty in October 2011.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Network Rail respects the verdict of the court and has apologised today for its shortcomings.”