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www.thetimes100.co.uk

Introduction
When people think of rail travel they think of trains. They do not think about the infrastructure of the train network. This consists of countless bridges, viaducts, embankments, cuttings and tunnels. Independent companies built the first railways in the 19th century. From midnight on
31st December 1947 the government took control of the railway industry and British Rail ran it.
In 1994 the railway industry was privatised and its services franchised to train operating companies such as Virgin and First Group. Responsibility for the infrastructure passed to a new plc called Railtrack. In 2002, the government transferred the assets and business of Railtrack to a new not-for-dividend company – Network Rail.
When Network Rail was created it needed to invest in the tracks and services. Since 2002, it has made many improvements. For example, in 2005 it replaced or repaired over 700 miles of rail.
Network Rail is a company limited by guarantee with a board of directors but no shares or shareholders. Instead, it has unpaid stakeholder 'members' who check standards of corporate governance and monitor performance.

Strategy and the external environment
The external environment is the context in which a business operates. This takes in various factors including those outside its control, for example, laws or standards. Each factor can have an effect on the business – positive or negative –and so companies make plans and strategies to try to anticipate these effects. If a company does not plan for external environment changes or ignores them, then it may miss opportunities to grow or suffer setbacks, for example, losing business to a competitor.
Every business strategy is designed to meet objectives and achieve targets. Ordinary firms must add value and reward