Before 1948, the railways in Britain we're run by public companies. Then they were nationalized and run by the state enterprise British Railways. In 1994, the UK's Conservative government privatized the railway system again. New companies were incorporated, with the right to run train services over various routes. The government recognized that some public subsidy would be needed to cover unprofitable services and routes, but believed that, with financial incentives and private sector managerial efficiencies, services would improve. Railtrack plc, a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange, was incorporated to control the entire railway infrastructure (tracks, signals, bridges, tunnels, and some stations), with the Rail Regulator setting charges for access to the tracks by the franchised train-operating companies.