There are several companies operating trains in the United Kingdom. These include the operators of passenger services, which are, rather confusingly, officially referred to as "train operating companies" or TOCs, as distinct from "freight operating companies".
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Passenger operators in Great Britain
Current passenger operators
The following operate the services that comprise the National Rail network in Great Britain.
There are also several heritage lines and light rail systems.
Defunct operating companies
A number of operating companies have ceased to exist for a number of reasons, including premature withdrawal of the franchise; the natural term of the franchise has expired; bankruptcy; or there has been a merger.
Future Operators
Franchises
- East Coast - East Coast is the name given to the state owned operator that will assume responsibility for the East Coast franchise when it is handed back by NXEC
Open-Access
- Grand Northern Trains - Grand Central's parent, Grand Union, will begin operating services between London and Bradford from early 2010. These services were won uder the name Grand Northern, although they will actually be branded as Grand Central, to allow a single fleet pool to be used.
Prospective operators
- Renaissance Trains, the owner of Wrexham & Shropshire, has proposed running services to several destinations under a number of brand names:
- Glasgow Trains has proposed to run services between Glasgow to Blackpool, Liverpool and Nottingham.
- Humber Coast & City Railway are planning to run services between Cleethorpes and Lincoln to Stratford, London via Peterborough and Cambridge.
Passenger Operators in Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland passenger trains are still government-owned, under the auspices of Translink. The following brands are used:
- Northern Ireland Railways - (domestic services)
- Enterprise - (Belfast-Dublin service, jointly operated by Iarnród Éireann)
Railtour operators
- Compass Tours
- DPS Railtours
- Stobart Pullman
- Pathfinder Tours
- Scottish Railway Preservation Society
- Venice-Simplon Orient Express
- Vintage Trains
- Retro Railtours
- Green Express Railtours
- Kingfisher Railtours
In Northern Ireland
- Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
- Irish Traction Group
- The Modern Railway Society of Ireland
Freight operators
- Direct Rail Services (incorporating Stobart Rail service)
- DB Schenker Rail (replaced English, Welsh and Scottish Railway)
- Fastline
- Freightliner
- FirstGBRf
- Mendip Rail
References
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
