<P> Following the Hatfield accident, the rail infrastructure company Railtrack imposed over 1,200 emergency speed restrictions across its network and instigated an extremely costly nationwide track replacement programme . The consequential severe operational disruption to the national network and the company's spiralling costs set in motion the series of events which resulted in the ultimate collapse of the company and its replacement with Network Rail, a state - owned, not - for - dividend company . </P> <P> Since April 2016, the British railway network has been severely disrupted on many occasions by wide - reaching rail strikes, affecting rail franchises across the country . The industrial action began on Southern services as a dispute over the planned introduction of driver - only operation, and has since expanded to cover many different issues affecting the rail industry; as of February 2018, the majority of the industrial action remains unresolved, with further strikes planned . The scale, impact and bitterness of the nationwide rail strikes have been compared to the 1984--85 miners' strike by the media . </P>

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