The new Railtrack boss

(L-R) Railtrack chairman Sir Philip Beck, former CE Gerald Corbett, and his replacement Steven Marshall

Since his arrival at Railtrack a year ago, when he became the company's finance director, Steven Marshall, the new chief executive, has been regarded as the heir-apparent.

Railtrack has been facing a difficult time as it struggles to modernise the rail network and introduce new safety systems in the wake of the Hatfield train crash.

But Mr Marshall has won praise for his delivery of a £2bn investment programme for last year and a £2.5bn programme for this year.

Railtrack - which is quoted on the stock market - has remained profitable, although its shares have fallen as the magnitude of the task facing it has become evident.

Mr Marshall, 43, an accountant by training, will now be facing demands for compensation from the rail companies, whose schedules have been delayed, and for quick action by the government, concerned about safety.

And shares in the company have dropped further as investors worried about the ability of Mr Marshall to face the operational and political tasks ahead of him.

Links to Gerald Corbett

But he is not just a man in a grey suit - he supports Brentford Football Club and lists his interests in Who's Who as international travel, natural history and soccer.

And his links to Gerald Corbett go back to his role at food giant Grand Metropolitan, where he was finance director of the spirits subsidiary IDV, when Mr Corbett was finance director of the whole group.

He was also director of Hungary's largest wine and spirits company.

IDV was eventually merged with Guinness's spirits interests when the two companies merged to form Diageo.

Mr Marshall does seem to be afraid of tackling companies in trouble.

Splitting up Radio Rentals

Before joining Railtrack, Mr Marshall was the chief executive at Thorn, the troubled Radio Rentals group, which was undergoing a major restructuring, having demerged from EMI and sold off its electrical subsidiary.

At the time of his appointment in February 1998, his first comment in his new role was to say that he recognised that the rental market in the UK was in long-term decline but he hoped that digital and widescreen TV would come to the rescue.

Thorn's problems were compounded by costly legal actions in the US, which prompted Mr Marshall to sell the company's 1400 American stores for £545m.

The company was taken over by Nomura, the Japanese bank, six months later.