In May 2021, the UK government announced its intent to replace Network Rail with a new public body called Great British Railways, which was formally established in 2024.

[15] The immediate major repairs undertaken across the whole British railway network were estimated to have cost in the order of £580 million and Railtrack had no idea how many more 'Hatfields' were waiting to happen because it had lost considerable in-house engineering skill following the sale or closure of many of the engineering and maintenance functions of British Rail to external companies; nor did the company have any way of assessing the consequence of the speed restrictions it was ordering.

[19] Railtrack's first chief executive, John Edmonds, had pursued a deliberate strategy of outsourcing engineers' work wherever possible with the goal of reducing costs.

[21] This programme suffered failures that were technical as well as managerial, such as the moving block signalling apparatus being immature for such a busy mixed-traffic mainline.

[34][35] The former company had thus never ceased to exist but continued under another name: for this reason Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd was the defendant in later prosecutions in respect of events which had occurred in the days of Railtrack.

A few lines that carry passenger traffic are not part of the National Rail network (such as the Tyne and Wear Metro and the London Underground).

[41] Network Rail has expanded its in-house engineering skills, including funding of apprenticeship and foundation degree schemes, and has reported significant savings from transferring work away from contracting companies.

Two months later, Sir Ian McAllister announced that he would not stand for re-election as chairman of Network Rail after holding the position for six years.

Former chief executive Iain Coucher was also accused of financial impropriety involving unspecified payments to his business partner Victoria Pender during his tenure at Network Rail.

[47][48] Critical commentary appeared in the media concerning the knighthood awarded to John Armitt in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to engineering and construction.

Michelle Handforth resigned after infrastructure problems left hundreds of passengers stranded in carriages in London, one of the latest issues with the lines outside Paddington Station.

[53] In December 2016, the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling announced that Network Rail would lose sole control of track maintenance and repairs, and instead would share this with the Train Operating Companies.

[57][58] Within four years, this programme, which was headed by Network Rail, was beset by poor planning and cost overruns, leading to the shortcomings being scrutinised by Parliament.

[63][64][65][66] In July 2017, it was announced the then-Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling that the electrification scheme north of Kettering to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield had been cancelled and that bi-mode trains would be used instead.

[69] Network Rail has undertaken numerous schemes to develop its own renewable electrical generation footprint, which is used in part to power the operational railway.

The roof of the new railway bridge is covered with 4,400 photovoltaic panels, providing up to half of the energy requirement for London Blackfriars station.

The majority of funding comes from a mix of direct grants and borrowing from the UK and Scottish Governments, payments from train and freight operators and previously a small amount of income from commercial property estate.

This was the first full collaboration of its kind since privatisation, and it is 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 (Leading Control for Thameslink), Swindon, Birmingham New Street, Glasgow and, most recently, Liverpool Street and South Wales based in Cardiff Canton.

This plan involves the use of satellites for tracking trouble areas, water-jetting trains and crews using railhead scrubbers, sand sticks and a substance called Natrusolve, which dissolves leaf mulch.

These include sites in York, Peterborough, Derby, Leeds, Walsall and Larbert which provide refresher courses, and train staff in new equipment.

The company and other industry partners such as VolkerRail and Balfour Beatty also operate a Foundation Degree in conjunction with Sheffield Hallam University.

[citation needed] For investment projects, as opposed to routine maintenance, Network Rail has developed an eight-stage process designed to minimise and mitigate risks.

They are as follows:[95] The Secretary of State for Transport regularly issues a High-Level Output Specification (HLOS) indicating what work the Government wishes to be undertaken during a given Control Period.

[citation needed] Setting the strategic direction and the day-to-day management of Network Rail is the responsibility of the company's board of directors.

Its members are drawn from railway funders, operators and users,[106] and the group meets quarterly to consider:[citation needed] While generally good, the safety record of the company was marred in February 2007 when a Virgin express derailed at Grayrigg in Cumbria.

The court heard that risk assessments carried out by Network Rail staff in 2002 had identified potential dangers with the crossing and recommended the installation of gates that would lock automatically as trains approached, but this was not acted upon.

They must also sit a Personal Track Safety training course and undergo assessment to be issued with a PTS card (reassessment is required every two years).

[115] The Times reported that Gordon Brown's aide, Shriti Vadera e-mailed Stephen Byers in July 2001 asking: "Can we engineer the solution through insolvency ... and therefore avoid compensation under the Human Rights Act?

[117] It was reported in November 2001 that a further £3.5 billion might be needed to keep the national railway network running, a sum disputed by Ernst & Young, the administrators.

[120] It was also claimed that the government is keen for Network Rail not to be classified as a public-sector organisation, as this would mean that the company's debt would be counted as public expenditure liabilities.