Network Rail is a British "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of the railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct British state-owned railway operator.

Thus Network Rail owns the infrastructure themselves, railway tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and most stations, but not the rolling stock. Network Rail took over ownership by buying Railtrack plc, which was in "Railway Administration", for £500 million from Railtrack Group plc. The company UK Headquarters Office is currently based at 40 Melton Street, Euston, London.

Network Rail and National Rail

The term Network Rail should not be confused with the term National Rail. Network Rail is a legal entity responsible for owning and managing the fixed assets of a network of railway lines. National Rail is a brand used to explain and promote a network of passenger railway services.

In terms of geography the two networks are very similar, but not exactly the same. Most Network Rail lines also carry freight traffic, some lines are freight only, and a few lines that carry passenger traffic are not part of the National Rail network (for example Eurostar, Heathrow Express and the London Underground). Conversely some National Rail network services operate in part over track that is not part of the Network Rail network (for example where they run on London Underground-owned track).

Infrastructure Maintenance

In October 2003 Network Rail announced that it would take over all infrastructure maintenance work from private contractors, following concerns about the quality of work carried out by certain private firms, and spiralling costs. While the company maintained that this was not a step towards renationalisation of the entire network, many commentators saw the move as a sign that the privatisation of the railways was unravelling. This impression was heightened in February 2004 by the opening of an operations centre at Waterloo station in London, operated jointly by Network Rail and the train operating company South West Trains. This was the first full collaboration of its kind since privatisation, and it is currently regarded as a model for other areas of the network, with a further six integrated Network Rail + TOC Control Centres having opened since then, at Blackfriars, Croydon, Swindon, Birmingham, Glasgow and, most recently, Liverpool Street, which was opened by Alistair Darling on 23 February 2005.

Track renewal, the ongoing modernisation of the railway network by replacing track and signalling systems, continues to be carried out by private engineering firms under contract. The biggest renewals project is the multi-billion-pound upgrade of the London to Glasgow West Coast Main Line.

Whilst Network Rail has overall responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of Britain's railways, it initially sub-contracted much of the work and the site to private Infrastructure Maintenance Companies such as Carillion Rail and First Engineering. Other sub-contractors are used on site for specialist work or additional labour. These include:

• Sky Blue
• Balfour Beatty
• Laboursite
• BCL

Since 2003 Network Rail has been building up significant in-house engineering skills, including funding of apprenticeship schemes. Network Rail reports significant savings resulting from the initial transfers of work away from contracting companies. Additional contracts were taken back by Network Rail after the serious accident at Potters Bar and other accidents at Rotherham and King's Cross led Jarvis to pull out of the track repair business. Shortly after this, and due to other failures by maintenance companies, Network Rail took control of many more maintenance duties.

All workers working on, near or trackside have to undergo a Personal Track Safety medical.

2006 Business Plan

In April 2006, Network Rail published its Business Plan ^* complete with route maps showing the entire network divided between "26 Routes" which in most cases might be more accurately described as geographical areas. They are as follows:

• Route 1 - Kent
• Route 2 - Brighton Main Line and Sussex
• Route 3 - South West Main Line
• Route 4 - Wessex Routes
• Route 5 - West Anglia
• Route 6 - North London Line and Thameside
• Route 7 - Great Eastern
• Route 8 - East Coast Main Line
• Route 9 - North East Routes
• Route 10 - North Trans-Pennine, North and West Yorkshire
• Route 11 - South Trans-Pennine, South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
• Route 12 - Reading to Penzance
• Route 13 - Great Western Main Line
• Route 14 - South and Central Wales and Borders
• Route 15 - South Wales Valleys
• Route 16 - Chilterns
• Route 17 - West Midlands
• Route 18 - West Coast Main Line
• Route 19 - Midland Main Line and East Midlands
• Route 20 - North West Urban
• Route 21 - Merseyrail
• Route 22 - North Wales and Borders
• Route 23 - North West Rural
• Route 24 - East of Scotland
• Route 25 - Highlands
• Route 26 - Strathclyde and South West Scotland

Railway Stations

Network Rail owns almost all railway stations on the National Rail network. Management of most of them is carried out by the principal train operating company serving that station, but 17 of the largest and busiest stations are managed directly by Network Rail. These are:

• Birmingham New Street
• Edinburgh Waverley
• Gatwick Airport
• Glasgow Central
• Leeds
• Liverpool Lime Street
• London Bridge
• London Cannon Street
• London Charing Cross
• London Euston
• London Fenchurch Street
• London Kings Cross
• London Liverpool Street
• London Paddington
• London Victoria
• London Waterloo
• Manchester Piccadilly

External link

• Network Rail Web site

Post-privatisation British railway companies

Network Rail | Network Rail | Network Rail | Network Rail