The Netherlands is both a very densely populated and a highly developed country in which transport is a key factor of the economy. Correspondingly it has a very dense and modern infrastructure, facilitating transport with road, rail, air and water networks. In its Global Competitiveness Report for 2014-2015, the World Economic Forum ranked the Dutch transport infrastructure fourth in the world.
Rail transport is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.
Network Rail Limited is the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Transport with no shareholders, which reinvests its income in the railways.
ProRail is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure, the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part of NS Railinfratrust, the Dutch railway infrastructure owner.
Iarnród Éireann, or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2019, IÉ carried a record peak of 50 million passengers, up from 48 million in 2018.
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industry was in part motivated by the enactment of EU Directive 91/440 in 1991, which aimed to create a more efficient railway network by creating greater competition.
Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is an Indian public sector undertaking responsible for executing railway projects under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) as sanctioned by Ministry of Railways for enhancing suburban rail transportation. It was incorporated under Companies Act, 1956 on 12 July 1999 with an equity capital of Rs. 25 crore shared in the ratio of 51:49 between Ministry of Railways and Government of Maharashtra. MRVC is also involved in the planning and development of the Mumbai Suburban Rail system.
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. is the Polish railway infrastructure manager, responsible for maintenance of rail tracks, conducting the trains across the country, scheduling train timetables, and management of railway land.
The Bulgarian State Railways are Bulgaria's state railway company and the largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1888. The company's headquarters are located in the capital Sofia. Since the 1990s the BDŽ has met serious competition from automotive transport. Up to 2002 the company also owned/managed the state railway infrastructure in the country, when according to EU regulations a new state company, the National Railway Infrastructure Company, was founded and became the owner of the infrastructure.
A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry. It can be:
Infrabel is a Belgian government-owned public limited company. It builds, owns, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, makes its capacity available to railway operator companies, and handles train traffic control.
Jernbaneverket was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic management and timetables. Safety oversight was the duty of the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate, while numerous operating companies run trains on the lines; the largest being the state owned passenger company Vy and the freight company CargoNet.
Rail transport in Europe is characterized by the diversity of technological standards, operating concepts, and infrastructures. Common features are the widespread deployment of standard-gauge rail, high operational safety and a high share of electrification. Electrified railway networks operate at a plethora of different voltages AC and DC varying from 750 to 25,000 volts, and signaling systems vary from country to country, complicating cross-border traffic.
JSC Latvian Railway was established on 2 September 1991. It is seen as the successor of the Latvian State Railways company which was established on 5 August 1919 and dissolved by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940.
European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) is a sector association that represents the interests of European rail infrastructure managers. Members consist of owners/managers of infrastructure from most European/EEA countries.
The Single European Railway Directive 20122012/34/EU is an EU Directive that regulates railway networks in European Union law. This recast the "First Railway Directive" or "Package" from 1991, and allows open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure. The legislation was extended by further directives to include cross border transit of freight.
RailNetEurope (RNE) is a non-profit organization working to increase the accessibility, quality and efficiency of the European rail network throughout Europe. There are currently 37 rail Infrastructure Managers and/or Allocation Bodies who are members of RNE.
The National Railway Infrastructure Company is Bulgaria's state railway infrastructure company, established as an entity on 1 January 2002. The company's headquarters are located in the capital city Sofia near Sofia Central Station. It is the owner and operator of most of the country's rail lines.
The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that sets mandatory requirements for European railways and manufacturers in the form of Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI), which apply to the Trans-European Rail system. The ERA publishes a document summarising the status of the TSIs. The ERA sets common safety targets, common safety methods and common safety indicators, following Directive 2004/49/EC and amendments. The ERA also hosts a number of databases, among which a register of remaining, applicable national rules.
A railway infrastructure manager is a rail transport company or body of other type, responsible for maintaining railway infrastructure. The European Union defines it as "any body or undertaking that is responsible in particular for establishing and maintaining railway infrastructure. This may also include the management of infrastructure control and safety systems. The functions of the infrastructure manager on a network or part of a network may be allocated to different bodies or undertakings" This includes mainly railway track and catenary, if the railway line is electrified, and respective command and control systems. It can also include the stations and power supply network. A significant proportion of these companies are state-owned monopolies, responsible for all or most of the railway infrastructure within a given country.
