Most of the 2,500 stations were leased from Railtrack to the TOC's, however Railtrack themselves manage 14 major stations at Birmingham New Street, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Leeds, Gatwick Airport and Manchester Piccadilly. In London they managed King's Cross, Paddington, Euston, Victoria, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, London Bridge and Charing Cross.

Railtrack managed the system from 1996 to its demise in 2002. Railtrack took over the operation British Rail on 1st April 1994 shortly after the Railway Act (1993) agreed the privatisation of the railways. One of Railtrack's fundamental roles was to improve the performance of the railway system, but the new company was heavily criticised for failing to achieve this task. Railtrack also failed on its safety record.

The Demise of Railtrack

It was the train crash at Hatfield and the £580 million of debt that prompt Railtrack to approach the Government for further financial assistance. Railtrack controversially received further funding which it used to pay dividends to its shareholders.

For the Government, this was the last straw and as a result, the then Transport Secretary Stephen Byers, applied to the High Court for Railtrack to be placed into administration. Railtrack was taken into Railway Administration on 7 October 2001.

A new company, Network Rail, was then placed in charge of Britain's railways.