In rail transport, an open-access operator is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not subject to franchising. [1]
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
The Deutsche Bahn AG is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company (AG) and the largest railway company in the world.
As of 2021, Germany had a railway network of 33,399 kilometres (20,753 mi), of which 20,540 kilometres (12,760 mi) were electrified and 18,556 kilometres (11,530 mi) were double track. Germany is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Germany is 80.
VR-Group Plc, commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 commuter rail services every day. With 7,500 employees and net sales of €1,251 million in 2017, VR is one of the most significant operators in the Finnish public transport market area.
A train operating company (TOC) is the term used on the railway system of Great Britain for a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
České dráhy, often shortened to ČD, is the major railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services.
MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong Kong Exchange and is a component of the Hang Seng Index. The MTR additionally invests in railways across different parts of the world, including franchised contracts to operate rapid transit systems in London, Stockholm, Beijing, Hangzhou, Taipa, Shenzhen, Sydney, and a suburban rail system in Melbourne.
Eurostar International Limited (EIL) is the railway company operating the international Eurostar train services between Paris, London, Amsterdam and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar was previously operated by three separate companies in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, but this structure was replaced by EIL as a new single management company on 1 September 2010. EIL is owned by Eurostar Group.
The Railroad Development Corporation is an American railroad holding company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It operates several short line railroads outside the United States and acts as an investor, with management and institutional investors as partners. It was founded in 1987 by former Conrail employee Henry Posner III.
Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, Arriva UK Trains also took over the running of those formerly overseen by DB Regio UK Limited.
The Stadler KISS is a family of bilevel electric multiple unit commuter trains developed and built since 2008 by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. As of 2016, 242 KISS trainsets comprising 1,145 cars have been sold to operators in eleven countries. Boarding is done into the lower deck.
Abellio is a Dutch public transport company that operates bus and rail services in Germany, and formerly also in Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It is wholly owned by the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
WESTbahn Management GmbH is an open access railway company operating express train services on Austria's Western Railway since 11 December 2011. The French railway company SNCF has a 17.4 percent stake in WESTbahn.
Leo Express, formerly Rapid Express, is an open-access train operator in the Czech Republic, established in 2010. It launched inter-city services in November 2012 on the Prague–Ostrava route, on which state-owned operator Czech Railways and open-access operator RegioJet were already running trains.
The CAF Civity is a platform of regional passenger trains which is manufactured by Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. Available as both diesel, electric and battery-electric multiple unit, the Civity was first launched in 2010 and received its first order two years later.
Nightjet is a brand name given by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to its overnight passenger train services.
FlixTrain is a German open-access operator of long-distance railway passenger services. It is a subsidiary of the mobility company Flix SE, which also owns long-distance coach operator FlixBus and is supplementing the bus network with rail connections.