Though the move is popular with many, including the Association of Train Operating Companies, it will not be straightforward. Firstly Network Rail has to settle compensation claims with the seven contractors it has left in the lurch. Building revealed this week that Balfour Beatty would be seeking £5m compensation, roughly equivalent to the operating profit it says it would have made from its maintenance contracts in 2004. This is far more than Network Rail will be hoping to pay. Its deputy chief executive Iain Coucher suggests that the amount for each of contractor would be nearer the £1m mark.
Then there is the task of transferring 18,500 rail workers over from the private contractors to the public sector, not-for-profit Network Rail. Workers' terms and conditions under the contractors will have to be matched by Network Rail, and sorting out the differences in pay across the country with the unions could be problematic.
RMT leader Bob Crow has already called for the wages of all track workers to be raised to match higher salaries in London and the South East.
Not all 18,500 of the workers will be transferring over either, as not all want to work in the public sector. If the numbers choosing to stay in the private sector are large it could hamper Network Rail's ability to carry out its workload. There is already a shortage in rail engineers as Network Rail found when it took over the rail maintenance in the Reading area from Amey in June.
The Independent reported that as a result of the staff shortages, which in the South East are running at up to 25%, Network Rail would be looking to hire up to 3,700 new engineers.
The rail regulator Tom Winsor is aware of the potential problems of integrating the workers and contacts. He warned that Network Rail would have to show significant improvements in its own efficiency to show that the increase in workforce to 33,500 was justified.
Paris Moayedi, the chairman of Jarvis says that Network Rail is facing a Herculean task. Jarvis pulled out of all rail maintenance work in early October, saying that contracts prepared by Network Rail would have meant more risk and lower margins.
Jarvis was also subject to wide criticism following the crash at Potter's Bar on May 10 last year in which four people died. It also apologised for a derailment at King's Cross earlier this month.
Network Rail cited rail safety as one of the reasons for deciding to take maintenance in house. Moayedi says the fact that the 18,500 rail workers will now be employed by Network Rail will make little difference. "People will make mistakes no matter how many checks and balances you put in place," he says.
Chairman of Network Rail Ian McAllister acknowledges that management structures are not yet in place but promises they soon will be. He claims that the future structure will do away with six layers of bureaucracy and will help to speed up repairs.
