Network
Rail

chief
executive
Andrew
Haines
is
predicting
that
Control
Period
7
will
mean
meeting
the
challenges
of
‘climate
change,
train
performance,
industry
revenue
and
reform’.

Control
Period
7
began
on
1
April,
and
this
five
year
budget
is
expected
to
be
the
last
for
Network
Rail
in
its
present
form,
because
NR
is
set
to
become
Great
British
Railways
within
the
next
two
or
three
years.

The
six
previous
Control
Periods
go
back
to
the
launch
of
Railtrack
on
1
April
1994,
when
it
was
separated
from
British
Rail.
It
was
then
floated
on
the
London
Stock
Exchange
in
May
1996.

The
following
years
did
not
prove
to
be
happy
ones.
Railtrack
struggled
with
the
runaway
budget
of
West
Coast
Modernisation,
while
several
serious
accidents
occurred
between
1997
and
2002.

In
the
end,
with
its
finances
out
of
control,
the
company
was
placed
in
railway
administration
in
October
2001
and
replaced
by
‘not
for
dividend’
Network
Rail
the
following
year.
Changes
to
statistical
rules
meant
that
NR
was
officially
classified
as
a
government
body
in
2014.

Control
Period
6
began
with
widespread
timetable
failures
in
May
2018.
These
led
to
the
inquiry
by
Keith
Williams,
who
concluded
that
the
railway
lacked
integration
and
recommended
the
creation
of
a
‘guiding
mind’.

Andrew
Haines
said:
‘The
last
five
years
has
seen
unprecedented
change,
not
just
at
Network
Rail,
but
across
the
world.
Our
railway
kept
essential
workers
and
freight
moving
during
the
Covid
pandemic,
and
of
course
we’re
now
faced
with
a
different
challenge
–
building
passenger
numbers
back.

‘We
are
doing
that
through
putting
passengers
first
and
getting
closer
to
our
customers.

‘We
started
that
process
right
at
the
beginning
of
the
period
as
Network
Rail
devolved
into
five
regional
business,
themselves
split
into
14
routes,
to
better
respond
to,
and
work
with,
our
train
operating
colleagues,
the
Welsh
and
Scottish
Governments,
combined
and
local
authorities
and
funders.
It
put
us
in
a
strong
position
to
respond
to
the
enormous
change
that
hit
us
with
the
pandemic,
and
gave
us
the
flexibility
to
bounce
back
afterwards.

‘The
creation
of
a
new
integrated
rail
body
–
Great
British
Railways
–
is
designed
to
re-join
track
and
train
and
aims
to
deliver
a
better,
simpler,
greener
railway
for
all
users.
It
will
mark
the
end
of
Network
Rail
but
that
is
something
we
look
forward
to
in
the
interest
of
better
serving
our
nations.’