Looking after the railway
We work 24/7 to keep the rail network running
Running the safest railway in Europe is a team effort. The day-to-day operations and maintenance we carry out to keep Britain moving involves dedicated teams across the country, working collaboratively and ensuring we maintain the best possible service for the millions who rely on the railway, every day.
Responsibilities
We’re responsible for:
- More than 20,000 miles of track across England, Scotland and Wales.
- Almost 6,000 level crossings – with consistently fewer accidents than in countries with a similar number.
- 30,000 bridges and viaducts.
- Around 2,500 stations – including 20 that we run: the biggest and busiest in the country.
Operations
Our operational function delivers the services that ensure safe performance of the railway, including managing the systems and processes that keep the rail network working: from signalling operators in our regional rail operating centres, to our mobile operations managers and incident response teams that help reopen any part of the network that’s blocked, level crossing managers and station customer service teams.
Our operational readiness hub is the national operations centre, and it’s organised around our routes to meet the needs of our customers: passengers, passenger service and freight operators and external commercial stakeholders.
Maintenance
Maintenance is the day-to-day upkeep of the network. Our maintenance employees support our operations and project teams by making sure every part of our infrastructure – such as signals and power supplies, or assets such as track and bridges – is maintained and in good working order.
Week on the Network
There’s always something happening on the railway. Our Week on the Network series keeps you right up to date with everything we’re doing, every seven days. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube and never miss an episode!
