Editing Network Rail (section)

===Formal governance structure===
The company is accountable to a body of members through its corporate constitution,<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/corporate%20responsibility%20report/networkrailcrreport2006.pdf |title=Playing Our Part: Corporate Responsibility Report 2006 |date=July 2006 |place=London |publisher=Network Rail |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219164647/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/corporate%20responsibility%20report/networkrailcrreport2006.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2008  |access-date=19 April 2007 }}</ref> to its commercial train operator customers through its contracts with them (the contracts are subject to regulatory oversight), and to the public interest through the statutory powers of the [[Office of Rail and Road]] (ORR).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/ |last=Office of Rail and Road |title=Office of Rail and Road |date=2017 |access-date=27 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140127201437/http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/ |archive-date=27 January 2014 }}</ref>

Since Network Rail does not have shareholders, its members hold the board of directors to account for their management of the business. From 1 July 2015 all the members were removed leaving the special member, the [[Secretary of State for Transport]], as the sole member of Network Rail.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/721.aspx |title=Our members |publisher=Network Rail |access-date=19 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150910020550/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/721.aspx |archive-date=10 September 2015 }}</ref>

Previously at any one time there were around 100 members in total, drawn from a wide range of industry partners and members of the public. There were two general categories of membership, industry members comprising any organisation holding a licence to operate on the railway or preferred bidder for a railway franchise, and public members who were drawn from the wider stakeholder community. Members were appointed by an independent panel and served a three-year term. They had a number of statutory rights and duties which included attending annual general meetings, receiving the Annual Report and Accounts, and approving the appointment or re-appointment of Network Rail's directors. Members had a duty to act in the best interests of the company without personal bias. They received no payments other than travel expenses.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

Setting the strategic direction and the day-to-day management of Network Rail is the responsibility of the company's board of directors. That direction must be consistent with the regulatory jurisdiction of the ORR, and with the requirements of its contracts. The ORR in turn operates within the overall transport policy set by the UK [[Department for Transport]] and the [[Scottish government]], including as to what the government wants the railway industry to achieve and how much money the government is prepared to put into the industry. This means that the degree of government influence and control over the company is higher than it was before these enlargements of the powers and role of the government were introduced by the [[Railways Act 2005]].{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The board of Network Rail are:<ref name = board >{{cite web |title=Our board |url=https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/how-we-work/our-leadership/our-board/ |publisher=Network Rail |access-date=9 August 2024}}</ref>
*Chair {{ndash}} Mike Putnam (acting)
*Chief executive officer {{ndash}}  Andrew Haines
*Chief financial officer {{ndash}} Jeremy Westlake