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.
Over the following years, Railtrack was criticized for the spiraling costs of new projects, its poor performance in maintaining and developing the rail infrastructure, and particularly on its poor safety record. Fatal crashes occurred. Railtrack's use of contractor on maintenance work allegedly had led to loss of control and lower safety. The strategy of having a single company run the entire rail network, used by all of the train operators, was questioned. In the old days, each railway company ran on its own tracks.