The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. The accident did not result in a large number of deaths, but it nevertheless exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised national railway infrastructure company Railtrack, and the failings of the regulatory oversight which the company displayed in its initial years, principally a failure to ensure that the company had a sound knowledge of the condition of its assets.