The chief executive of Railtrack, Mr Gerald Corbett, resigned yesterday after offering to step down for the second time since the Hatfield train crash last month.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, pointedly looked to the future without referring to Mr Corbett in his comments, saying Railtrack's priority was to "get the network fully up and running again safely and efficiently".
Mr Corbett first offered his resignation soon after the Hatfield crash, in which four people were killed, but the Railtrack board refused to accept it and he went on to oversee a national programme of track repairs that has caused chaos on the rail network.
This time, however, the board accepted his resubmitted resignation offer "with regret" and has appointed the company's finance director, Mr Steven Marshall, as Mr Corbett's replacement.
Speaking to reporters outside Railtrack's Euston headquarters in London, Mr Corbett said he had resigned for personal reasons. "In the last few weeks my own profile has been far too high for my own good, my family's good and also for the company's good," he said.
Last week he was bitterly criticised by relatives of those killed in the Paddington rail crash when he described rail safety as a journey in which "you never arrive at your destination". He later apologised to the relatives.
His resignation was welcomed by the train-drivers' union, ASLEF, which said the entire Railtrack board should consider its position after an announcement of increased dividend payments for its members.