KiwiRail has "sincerely apologised" for an incident that left two workers critically injured after being electrocuted during a maintenance work in 2024.
KiwiRail chief metro officer David Gordon offered the apology after the company was fined $290,000 and ordered to pay $42,000.
"We sincerely apologise for this incident," Gordon said in a statement quoted by Radio New Zealand.
"It should not have happened, and our guilty plea reflects our acceptance that we fell short of the high standards we expect to maintain."
The two rail workers were electrocuted by 25,000 volts of electricity after coming into contact with overhead powerlines between Newmarket and Britomart in September 2024.
According to the RNZ report, the victims were performing maintenance on the overhead lines near Parnell Train Station but did not notice they had moved outside the planned work site.
One of the victims had to undergo three surgeries and a number of skin grafts following the incident after receiving burns to the left side of his face, neck, upper body, chest, backside of his left shoulder, and left arm down to his wrist.
"Since the incident I have undergone and am still undergoing emotional and physical difficulties," the victim's impact statement said as quoted by the news outlet.
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