Impact
The speed restrictions and track replacement works caused significant disruption on a majority of the national network for more than a year.
This disruption and Railtrack's spiralling costs set in motion the events which resulted in the collapse of the company into administration at the insistence of Transport Secretary Stephen Byers MP, and its replacement by the not-for-dividend company Network Rail under Byers's successor Alistair Darling MP.
Train operating companies were affected extremely adversely by the disruption – with an estimate of a 19% revenue reduction for passenger train operating companies in the first year after the crash. Freight operator EWS was cancelling up to 400 trains per week as a result, whilst estimates put Freightliner's resultant losses at £1 million per month. The cost to the entire UK economy of the disruption was estimated at £6 million per day.
The Institute of Rail Welding (IoRW) was set up in 2002 by The Welding Institute (TWI) and Network Rail as a consequence of the recommendations in the investigation report. It provides a focus for individuals and organisations involved in rail welding and facilitates the adoption of best practice.
Read more about this topic: Hatfield Rail Crash
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