After the privatisation of the rail network in 1994 the infrastructure and track was owned by a private company, Railtrack. Unfortunately, soon after the network was privatised there were a number of serious accidents.
Two out of the three accidents were nothing to do with Railtrack, but the public identified Railtrack as the face of the railways and they took the brunt of the publics blame.
Two train caused accidents, one at Southall and another at Ladbroke Grove were the result of trains running though red lights. The third accident, at Hatfield, was the result of a rail fragmenting due to fatigue and wear. This Hatfield crash was the nail in the coffin for Railtrack, who subsequently imposed 1,200 emergency speed restrictions, the cost of which resulted in the collapse of the company.
Whether these speed restrictions or accidents would have happened regardless of privatisation is open to debate.
Out of the ashes of Railtrack the government created a new company, Network Rail, which would take over from Railtrack. Network Rail was a company created through special legislation, and is wholly owned by the Government. To all intents and purposes the rail network is state owned, while the passenger and freight operations are in the hands of private companies.
Should any of the private companies fail which run train services, the operation of the sevice will revert back to the government (as has happened with Connex and GNER). These failed franchises have subsequently been re-issued to new companies who now operate the service.
The current rail network has been the result of public pressure against privitasation (primarily causing the failure of Railtrack) and the governments unwillingness to nationalise.
It will be interesting to see how the rail industry develops over the next decade.
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