Editing Network Rail (section)

===Background===
{{See also|Railtrack|British Rail}}
[[Rail transport in Great Britain|Britain's railway system]] was built by private companies, but it was [[nationalisation|nationalised]] by the [[Transport Act 1947]] and run by [[British Rail]]ways until [[Privatisation of British Rail|re-privatisation]] which was begun in 1994 and completed in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |url = https://www.socresonline.org.uk/7/1/strangleman.html |first = Tim |last = Strangleman |date = 2002 |title = Nostalgia for Nationalisation – the Politics of Privatisation |journal = Sociological Research Online |volume = 7 |number = 1 |pages = 92–105 |doi = 10.5153/sro.701 |s2cid = 144684740 }}</ref><ref name = "wolmar 2005">{{cite news |last = Christian |first = Wolmar |newspaper = [[The Guardian]] |date = 16 July 2005 |url = https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,1529802,00.html |title = Forget Byers: the scandal was in the original sell-off: Railtrack was heading for disaster long before the Hatfield crash}}</ref> As a part of the privatisation process, the railway infrastructure, passenger and freight services were separated into separate organisations. Between 1994 and 2002, the infrastructure was owned and operated by [[Railtrack]], a privately-owned company.<ref name = "parliament summary2010">{{cite web |url = https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01224/SN01224.pdf |title = Railways: Railtrack, 1994-2002 |date = 24 March 2010 |website = parliament.uk |first = Louise |last = Butcher}}</ref><ref name = "Edmondreplace independent1997">{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/beleaguered-railtrack-seeks-big-hitter-to-replace-edmonds-1257605.html |title = Beleaguered Railtrack seeks 'big hitter' to replace Edmonds |newspaper = The Independent |first1 = Sameena |last1 = Ahmad |first2 = Andrew |last2 = Yates |date = 22 June 1997}}</ref>

A spate of accidents, including the [[Southall rail crash]] in 1997<ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/19/newsid_2524000/2524283.stm |title = Six dead in Southall Train Disaster |work = BBC News |date = 19 September 1997}}</ref> and the [[Ladbroke Grove rail crash]] in 1999<ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/467919.stm |title = Ladbroke Grove Crash |work = BBC News |date = 11 October 1999}}</ref> called into question the negative consequences that the fragmentation of the railway network had introduced to both safety and maintenance procedures. Railtrack was severely criticised for both its performance for infrastructure improvement and for its safety record.<ref name = "parliament summary2010"/><ref>{{cite journal |url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840903476379?journalCode=raec20 |title = The rise and fall of Railtrack PLC: an event study |journal = Applied Economics |volume = 43 |date = 2011 |issue = 23 |pages = 3143–3153|doi = 10.1080/00036840903476379 |last1 = Glass |first1 = Anthony |s2cid = 154603770 }}</ref> The [[Hatfield train crash]] on 17 October 2000 was a defining moment in the collapse of Railtrack.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491425.stm |title = Four dead in Hatfield Train Crash |work = BBC News |date = 17 October 2000 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134427/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491425.stm |archive-date = 7 March 2008 |df = dmy-all}}</ref> The immediate major repairs undertaken across the whole British railway network were estimated to have cost in the order of [[Pound sterling|£]]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. These restrictions brought the railway network to an almost total standstill and drew significant public ire.<ref name = "timeline guardian2002">{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jun/27/transport.uk |title = Timeline: Railtrack |newspaper = The Guardian |first1 = Mark |last1 = Tran |first2 = Sarah |last2 = Left |first3 = Philip |last3 = Pank |date = 27 June 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1482439/Hatfield-crash-was-disaster-waiting-to-happen.html |title = Hatfield crash "was disaster waiting to happen" |newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]] |date = 31 January 2005 |access-date = 22 August 2016 |archive-date = 10 February 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180210181641/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1482439/Hatfield-crash-was-disaster-waiting-to-happen.html |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/989218.stm|title=Railtrack shuts down West Coast Main Line |work = BBC News |date = 25 October 2000 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131110021218/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/989218.stm|archive-date = 10 November 2013 |df = dmy-all}}</ref> According to railway historian [[Christian Wolmar]], Railtrack's board panicked in the wake of Hatfield.<ref>{{cite book |last = Wolmar |first = Christian |title = On the Wrong Line |publisher = Aurum Press |date = 2005 |isbn = 978-1-85410-998-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSMzj9wC_soC&pg=PT290|page=290|via=Google Books}}</ref> Railtrack's first chief executive, John Edmonds, had pursued a deliberate strategy of [[outsource|outsourcing]] engineers' work wherever possible with the goal of reducing costs.<ref name = "Edmonds obituarytelegraph">{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/05/27/john-edmonds-executive-forced-radical-changes-british-rail/ |title = John Edmonds, executive who forced through radical changes at British Rail – obituary |newspaper = The Telegraph |date = 27 May 2020}}</ref>
 
Various major schemes being undertaken by Railtrack had also gone awry. The modernisation of the [[West Coast Main Line]] had suffered from spiralling costs, rising from an estimated £2 billion to roughly £10 billion.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/565507.stm |title = Repair costs spiral to £5bn |work = BBC News |date = 15 December 1999 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131110021245/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/565507.stm |archive-date = 10 November 2013 |df = dmy-all}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/apr/01/transport.uk |title = The main players in the £10bn rail fiasco |newspaper = The Guardian |first = James |last = Meek |date = 1 April 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title = The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line |url = https://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-modernisation-of-the-west-coast-main-line/ |access-date = 21 July 2021 |website = [[National Audit Office (United Kingdom)|National Audit Office]] |date = 22 November 2006 |archive-date = 21 July 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210721150856/https://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-modernisation-of-the-west-coast-main-line/ |url-status = live}}</ref> In 2000, reports emerged that Railtrack may not be able to go through with its planned commitment to purchase section 2 of [[High Speed 1]], resulting in disruption and uncertainty for that programme as well.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/may/30/7 |title = Railtrack funding of Channel rail link in doubt again |first = Keith |last = Harper |date = 30 May 2000 |newspaper = The Guardian |access-date = 1 August 2009 |location = London |archive-date = 8 May 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140508231457/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/may/30/7 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-could-ditch-new-channel-rail-link-702632.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091201134427/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-could-ditch-new-channel-rail-link-702632.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 1 December 2009 |title = Railtrack could ditch new Channel rail link |first = Michael |last = Harrison |date = 16 January 2001 |newspaper = The Independent |access-date = 1 August 2009 |location = London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-to-lose-its--newline-monopoly-689651.html |title = Railtrack to lose its new-line monopoly |first = Colin |last = Brown |date = 1 April 2001 |newspaper = The Independent |access-date = 1 August 2009 |location = London}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In February 2001, Steve Marshall, Railtrack's chairman, warned that Railtrack could have a net debt of approximately £8 billion by 2003.<ref name = "sciencemuseum summary">{{cite web |url = https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap268/railtrack-group-plc |title = Railtrack Group PLC |website = sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk |access-date = 5 December 2022}}</ref> During May 2001, Railtrack announced that, despite making a pre-tax profit before exceptional expenses of £199m, the £733m of costs and compensation paid out over the Hatfield crash had plunged Railtrack from profit into a loss of £534m,<ref>{{cite news |title = Railtrack in line for all-clear on borrowing |first = Arthur |last = Leathley |newspaper = [[The Times]] |date = 25 May 2001 |place = London}}</ref> and it approached the government for funding, which it controversially used to pay a £137m [[dividend]] to its [[shareholder]]s in May 2001.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2720891/Railtrack-shares-dive-to-all-time-low.html |title = Railtrack shares dive to all time low |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date = 6 June 2001 |place = London |first = Alistair |last = Osborne |access-date = 20 May 2010 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110312232151/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2720891/Railtrack-shares-dive-to-all-time-low.html |archive-date = 12 March 2011 |df = dmy-all}}</ref> Months later, Railtrack sought another bailout from the government.<ref name = "wolmar 2005"/><ref name = "timeline guardian2002"/> On 7 October 2001, Railtrack plc was placed into railway administration under the Railways Act 1993, following an application to the [[High Court of Justice of England and Wales|High Court]] by the then [[Secretary of State for Transport|Transport Secretary]], [[Stephen Byers]].<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-goes-bankrupt-with-debts-of-acircpound33bn-630604.html |title = Railtrack goes bankrupt with debts of £3.3bn |newspaper = The Independent |date = 8 October 2001 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110312220300/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/railtrack-goes-bankrupt-with-debts-of-acircpound33bn-630604.html |archive-date = 12 March 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/2001/10/rail-420-why-railtracks-fall-was-a-revolution-waiting-to-happen/ |title = Rail 420: Why Railtrack's fall was a revolution waiting to happen |website = christianwolmar.co.uk |date = 17 October 2001}}</ref>