John Armitt, Railtrack's new chief executive, is an engineer of some repute.

But to succeed in the Herculean task of making the company deliver a safe and effective service, he'll need the diplomatic skills of an experienced ambassador, the negotiating technique of a red-hot salesman and enough stamina to run consecutive marathons.

If Mr Armitt can rescue Railtrack from its mounting woes, he'll deserve the status of national hero.

But given the company's miserable safety record, poor staff morale and widespread dissatisfaction among travellers, it's clear he's taking on one of the toughest jobs in British industry.

Decades of under-investment

Like a train that's been routed down the wrong track, he shouldn't be starting from here. The biggest problem is that the rail network has suffered from decades of under-investment. Bits of it are literally falling apart.

The average age of the track is 28.5 years and rising. In the past five years, the annual replacement rate has been 0.9% of the network, about half the rate in Germany.

Renewing and refurbishing the railways is frighteningly expensive: more than £15bn required in the next five years, yet passengers are not willing to absorb sharp price rises on their tickets.

So where does the money come from? The answer, of course, is government.

But that adds another degree of difficulty to Mr Armitt's juggling act, because, as any businessmen who's dealt with Westminster will tell you, handling ministers is at best tricky and at worst a permanent nightmare.

Low morale

But it's not just the politicians that Railtrack's boss has to look after. Staff at the company have been demoralised by a crisis of confidence, and many of the most talented engineers are threatening to leave.

Suppliers are unsure what they are now dealing with and to what extent the company can be relied upon to meet its obligations.

The rail operators are fed up with all the delays because it annoys their customers, and passenger groups are on the warpath over what they see is an unacceptable cocktail of high ticket prices, poor punctuality and declining safety standards.

And if all that was not enough, there is the media to handle, too. Few companies have a higher profile than Railtrack and every move it makes is scrutinised down to the last detail.

Finally, there's the threat of accidents. Everybody hopes we will never have another Hatfield or Paddington, but transport tragedies do occur and when they happen on the railways, it's Railtrack boss who has to face the music.

I wish Mr Armitt all the luck in the world. He'll need it.