The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest railway system in the world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail, which in 2017 had a network of 15,811 kilometres (9,824 mi) of standard-gauge lines, of which 5,374 kilometres (3,339 mi) were electrified. These lines range from single to quadruple track or more. In addition, some cities have separate metro, light rail and tram systems. There are also many private railways, which are primarily short lines for tourists. The main rail network is connected with that of continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1, which fully opened in 1994 and 2007 respectively.
Nederlandse Spoorwegen is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is the busiest in the European Union, and the third busiest in the world after Switzerland and Japan.
Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process with the purpose of encouraging eligible singles to meet a large number of new potential partners in a very short period of time.
Virgin Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 March 1997 to 7 December 2019. The franchise covered long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland, consequently connecting six of the UK's largest cities: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18 million. Virgin Trains had around 3,400 employees in 2015.
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
Virgin Group Limited is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.
Blockbuster Video was an American video rental store chain. It was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a stand-alone mom-and-pop home video rental shop, but later grew into a national store chain featuring video game rentals, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. The company expanded internationally throughout the 1990s. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide and operated 9,094 stores.
Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself partly owned by the Italian government, the company and partly from private investors group. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transport.
The British Rail Class 43 (HST) is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train (formerly Classes 253 and 254) diesel-electric power cars, built by British Rail Engineering Limited from 1975 to 1982, and in service in the UK since 1976.
Lincoln railway station serves the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway. East Midlands Railway provides the majority of services from the station, with other services being provided by Northern and London North Eastern Railway.
The Bombardier Voyager is a family of high-speed 125 mph diesel-electric multiple units built in Belgium by Bombardier Transportation, for service on the railway network of the United Kingdom. Construction of the Voyager family took place between 1999 and 2005, consisting of three classes - the Class 220 Voyager, the Class 221 Super Voyager and the Class 222 Meridian.
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern, was a British train operating company owned by Govia that operated passenger rail services in South East England. It was the key operator of commuter and regional services in South East London and Kent, and also served parts of East Sussex.
Gaydio is a radio station for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ+) people in the United Kingdom, broadcast on 88.4 FM in Greater Manchester, 97.8 FM in Brighton, on DAB digital radio in Greater London, parts of the Home Counties, Manchester, Stockport, Brighton, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne and Portsmouth, and online through its website, mobile apps, Smart Speakers and the UK Radio Player. Since October 2018 a separate company, Gaydio Brighton, also operates a service in Brighton on 97.8FM and DAB Radio. The majority of Gaydio is networked with several content splits and bespoke local programming in Brighton & Manchester.
United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) is an international Christian broadcasting and media group, founded by Rhema Media. Through affiliates in twenty five countries, it operates radio and television stations and publishes and broadcasts Bob Gass's daily devotionals The Word for You Today and Word For You.
CrossCountry is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the New CrossCountry franchise.
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, was a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operated the TransPennine Express franchise. It ran regional and inter-city rail services between the major cities and towns of Northern England and Scotland.
iHeartRadio is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. As of 2019, iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHeartMedia's radio network, the largest radio broadcaster in the United States with 128 million registered users as of 2019. Its main competitors are Audacy, TuneIn and Sirius XM.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four companies which operated between 1923 and 1948.
This is a timeline of the history of Granada Television, and of the television interests of its former owner Granada plc.
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership.
