Network Rail facts for kids
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| Government-owned company/non-departmental public body | |
| Industry | Rail infrastructure and asset management |
| Predecessor | Railtrack |
| Founded | 3 October 2002 |
| Headquarters | Waterloo General Office, London |
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Key people
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Andrew Haines (CEO) |
| Products | Public transport |
| Revenue | £11.5 billion (2024) |
| Total assets | £90.1 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | £18.4 billion (2024) |
| Owner | HM Government (Department for Transport) |
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Number of employees
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40,966 (2024) |
Network Rail Limited is the company that owns and takes care of most of the railway network in Great Britain. This includes the tracks, signals, tunnels, and bridges. It is a public company owned by the UK government's Department for Transport. This means it doesn't have shareholders and puts its earnings back into improving the railways.
Network Rail's main customers are the private companies that run passenger trains and freight trains. These companies use the tracks and stations that Network Rail maintains. Since 2014, Network Rail has been officially classified as a public sector body.
Because more and more people are travelling by train, Network Rail has been working on a £38 billion upgrade program. This includes big projects like Crossrail and the Thameslink Programme.
In 2021, the government announced plans to replace Network Rail with a new organisation called Great British Railways. This new body was set up in a temporary form in 2024.
Contents
History of Network Rail
How It All Started
Britain's railway system was first built by private companies. In 1947, the government took control of them, a process called nationalisation, and created British Rail. Then, between 1994 and 1997, the railways were privatised again. This meant the tracks and the trains were run by separate companies. The company that owned the tracks was called Railtrack.
However, Railtrack faced serious problems. A series of major accidents, like the Hatfield train crash in 2000, raised big questions about safety. After the Hatfield crash, huge repairs were needed across the country, costing around £580 million. Railtrack had outsourced much of its engineering work to save money, but this meant it lost a lot of its expert knowledge.
Railtrack also struggled with big projects. The upgrade of the West Coast Main Line cost much more than planned, rising from £2 billion to about £10 billion. By 2001, the company was in deep financial trouble. On October 7, 2001, the government stepped in and put Railtrack into administration, a process for companies that can't pay their debts.
The Birth of Network Rail
Network Rail was created in 2002 to take over from Railtrack. It bought Railtrack plc for £500 million and renamed it Network Rail Infrastructure Limited. This new company took responsibility for all the railway infrastructure. This includes tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, and most stations.
While Network Rail owns over 2,500 stations, it only manages 20 of the biggest ones itself. The rest are managed by the train companies. It's important not to mix up Network Rail with National Rail. National Rail is the brand used for all passenger train services in Great Britain, while Network Rail is the company that owns the physical network.
At first, Network Rail hired private companies to do maintenance work. But in 2003, it decided to bring most of this work back in-house. This was to improve the quality of work and control costs. The company also invested in training new engineers through apprenticeships.
In 2012, Network Rail opened a new national centre in Milton Keynes called the Quadrant:MK. This building brought together over 3,000 staff from different departments, like engineering, IT, and planning.
Recent Changes
In 2011, Network Rail started to reorganise its operations into nine regions. Each region has its own managing director, giving them more control over their local area.
In 2016, the government announced that Network Rail would share the responsibility for track maintenance with the train operating companies. This was done to improve teamwork between the track and train operators.
Funding and How It Works
Network Rail is a not-for-profit organisation. Most of its money comes from the government, payments from train companies who use the tracks, and borrowing.
The company works in five-year cycles called "Control Periods." For each period, the government sets out what it wants Network Rail to achieve. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), an independent regulator, then decides how much money Network Rail needs to do its job efficiently. The current period, Control Period 7, started on 1 April 2024 and will run until 2029.
What Network Rail Owns
Tracks, Bridges, and Tunnels
Network Rail is in charge of a huge amount of infrastructure. This includes 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of track and 30,000 bridges, tunnels, and viaducts. It also runs the world's largest third rail network, which is one way of supplying electricity to trains.
To keep the railway running smoothly, Network Rail carries out constant track renewal. This means replacing old tracks and signals with modern equipment. One of the biggest projects was the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow.
Network Rail also has a high-tech plan to deal with slippery rails caused by fallen leaves in autumn. It uses satellites to find problem spots and special trains that jet-wash the tracks to clear away leaf mulch.
Major Stations
Network Rail owns over 2,500 stations, but it directly manages 20 of the biggest and busiest ones. The rest are managed by the train companies that use them. The 20 stations managed by Network Rail are:
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National
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London stations |
Special Trains and Equipment
Network Rail has its own fleet of special trains and vehicles to check and maintain the railway. These are not passenger trains. They include:
- The New Measurement Train: Nicknamed the "Flying Banana" because of its yellow colour, this high-tech train uses lasers and cameras to check the condition of the tracks while travelling at high speed.
- Track maintenance vehicles: These include stoneblowers that fix the track bed and railgrinders that smooth the surface of the rails.
- Breakdown cranes: Used to lift derailed trains or heavy equipment.
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Breakdown crane
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Railgrinder for switches and crossings
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New Measurement Train
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Railhead treatment train
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Stoneblower at Didcot
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Class 97/3 Locomotive for testing new signal systems.
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Upgrading the Railway
Since 1997, the number of people using trains has more than doubled. To handle this growth, Network Rail has been carrying out a massive £38 billion upgrade program.
Key projects include:
- Thameslink Programme: A major upgrade of the north-south route through London, allowing more and longer trains to run.
- Crossrail: A new railway line running east to west across London, now known as the Elizabeth line.
- Electrification: Replacing diesel trains with cleaner, faster electric ones on many routes.
- HS2: A new high-speed line connecting London with the north of England.
Greener Railways
Network Rail is working to make the railway more environmentally friendly. In 2014, it opened the world's largest solar-powered bridge at Blackfriars in London. The roof of the station is covered with 4,400 solar panels, which provide about half of the station's energy.
Safety on the Railway
Safety is Network Rail's top priority. Britain's railways are among the safest in Europe. However, there have been serious incidents.
In 2007, a train derailed at Grayrigg in Cumbria because of a faulty set of points. Network Rail took responsibility for the accident and was fined £4.1 million. The investigation led to better procedures for checking and maintaining track.
In another sad case, two girls were killed at a level crossing in Elsenham, Essex, in 2005. An investigation found that Network Rail had identified risks at the crossing years earlier but had not made it safer. The company was fined £1 million.
These events led to major safety improvements. For example, all track workers must now wear head-to-toe bright orange clothing, known as "All Orange," to make sure they are easily seen.
See also
In Spanish: Network Rail para niños
- Campaign to Bring Back British Rail
- Northern Ireland Railways
- Financing of the rail industry in Great Britain
- Network Rail Certification Body
