THE operator behind the famous Jacobite steam train has been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £64,000 over health and safety breaches.

West Coast Railway Company was handed the financial penalties after pleading guilty today [Mon] at Swindon Crown Court to a series of failings which led one of its passenger trains to pass through a red "danger" signal near Wootton Bassett on March 7 2015.

The train's driver, Melvyn Cox, has also received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

The incident prompted Network Rail to issue the operator with a six-week ban last year, and subsequently led to a prosecution brought by the Office of Rail and Road.

WCRC is best known in Scotland for operating the Jacobite, a steam locomotive-hauled tourist train which runs in the summer months between Fort William and Mallaig.

The Jacobite runs across the Glenfinnan viaduct on its route, a scene made famous from its appearance in the Harry Potter film franchise where it doubles as the Hogwarts Express.

However, the red light incident involved another of the Lancashire-based company's steam locomotives, the Tangmere, which had been travelling between Bristol and Southall.

An investigation found that the Tangmere shot through the junction at Wootten Bassett despite a red signal warning the driver to stop.

The locomotive narrowly avoided colliding with a First Great Western passenger service, en route from Swansea to London Paddington, which had passed through the junction only 44 seconds earlier.

It came to a halt almost 700 metres after the signal, across a busy junction on the Great Western main line directly in the path of oncoming trains.

ORR inspectors found significant failings in WCRC’s managerial controls.

The company had not implemented appropriate procedures, training or monitoring of staff to stop intentional misuse of the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) equipment.

Investigators found that the driver, Mr Cox, had directed a colleague to turn off this essential safety system, designed to automatically apply an emergency brake.

Ian Prosser, HM Chief Inspector of Railways said: “West Coast Railway Company’s (WCRC) ineffective management led to their train driver deliberately misusing a key safety system on a train travelling between Bristol and Southall.

“This prosecution has led to WCRC taking significant steps to improve its management of safety, with support from the regulator.”