What is Network Rail?
Network Rail (NR) was set up in 2002 to replace Railtrack as the body responsible for Britain’s rail network. It holds a monopoly over Britain’s rail infrastructure, a major national asset, and as such is rigorously monitored to ensure accountability to the public interest. Its network operating licence was originally issued to Railtrack on March 31st 1994.
As a result NR is limited by guarantee, which means it operates as a private company without a profit-making function. This does not mean Network Rail can’t make a profit, but that  to do so was not its primary aim. Any operating surplus is reinvested in the rail network.
Instead of shareholders, members drawn from the rail industry and the general public hold the board to account by reviewing its performance against pre-set targets. The Department for Transport (DfT) is also a member, providing it with substantial subsidies each year.
Network Rail’s primary purpose is the maintenance of Britain’s rail infrastructure, which includes tracks, stations, bridges, tunnels and signalling assets.
NR owns all the railway stations in Great Britain but, with the exception of the 18 major stations which it runs (10 of which are the big London terminals), they are leased to the train operating company (TOC) which is the main user of that station.
It does not control the rolling stock of passenger and freight trains but its structure is organised according to nine major routes to aid closer relations with train and freight companies. These are Scotland, North-Eastern, North-Western, Western, Midland and Continental, Anglia, Wessex, Sussex and Kent.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain’s railways and its principal economic function is to regulate Network Rail’s stewardship of the national rail network. One of the Office of Rail Regulation’s key roles is to limit the charges Network Rail, as the monopoly railway infrastructure manager in Britain, can impose for access to this infrastructure.
During the period between reviews the ORR monitors Network Rail’s expenditure and its progress in improving its efficiency, with a Network Rail monitor document published every three months.
In 2016, the Shaw Report on Network Rail, published in March 2016 recommended that Network Rail’s regulation be overhauled, that the company restructure and devolve its operations to better fit the
political geography of the country and introduce more private finance into the network.
