Network Rail is planning to "renationalise" the railways by taking control of stations and owning new rolling stock , according to senior railway executives (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/05/network_rail_seeks_to_shunt_tr.html#more

Under proposals submitted to the Rail Regulator last month , Network Rail has suggested it could take control of the management of major stations across Britain , including Newcastle , York and Oxford , while taking over the maintenance of the rest of the 2,500-strong portfolio.

The state-backed network operator wants to take back control of stations and enter the rolling stock leasing business

At the same time the government-funded body is proposing to use its debt , which is backed by the state , to go into competition against the banks to fund the financing of new trains.

In a sign of the widespread concern over the issue , the Association of Train Operating Companies is to meet on Wednesday to discuss it. Train operators are concerned that the proposals go way beyond Network Rail's original remit and will move it further into profit-making areas such as retail outlets on stations and financing.

A senior executive at a train operating company , who asked not be named , said: "This is creeping nationalisation. The train operating company community is very resistant to what Network Rail is proposing.

"We see this as empire building. We would just be putting drivers on trains and taking the revenue risk. We would have to look very closely at whether the train operating companies would want to do that."

The issue of funding is the one that has led to most concerns about renationalisation. Although technically Network Rail is a private organisation owned by members of the public , financially it is underwritten by the Governmen t, leading many commentators to say it is a state body in all but name.

"They are going to have to put across bloody good arguments why they should do this," said a senior railway executive. "This is British Rail in all but name."

Network Rail is dangling the prospect of lower train fares in front of regulators as part of its proposals (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/05/network_rail_says_broader_remi.html#more

The Department for Transport claimed that the excessive profit being earned by the banks is “the equivalent of an annual 8 per cent increase on all season tickets”. (a bit rich from a government department that sanctioned big hikes in the cost of regulated fares and which is lifting the cap on such fares for community rail lines , thus threatening a drop in passenger usage.)

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We can raise debt cheaper than other private enterprises and so can make cost savings in raising money and pass that on to operating companies or leasing companies, who can pass that on to the passenger.”

Last month it emerged that Network Rail had held talks with Scottish Labour politicians about taking control of trains in Scotland. The move was seen as a trial of a renationalised train service , which would reverse the break-up of British Rail in the mid - 1990s (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1947.msg4764#msg4764