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Network Rail which is an arm's length arm of the Department of Transport, and they own the tracks. [1]

The the passenger service are sold off as franchises, which are are bid for by various companies.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Rail

Network Rail currently own the tracks, but prior to them was Railtrack, which was a group of privately owned companies. Their negligence in maintaining the railway led to the Hatfield crash in 2000, resulting in re-nationalising essentially all fixed infrastructure that makes up the railways.

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