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]
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car.
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.
Arriva Trains Wales was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, including Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham General and Holyhead, as well as to certain stations in England such as Hereford, Shrewsbury, Chester, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street.
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.
Wrexham & Shropshire was an open access operator that provided passenger rail services in the United Kingdom. Services between Wrexham General and London Marylebone operated from April 2008 until January 2011.
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.
London Overground Rail Operations Limited was a train operating company contracted to operate the London Overground train service on the National Rail network, under the franchise control of Transport for London. The company was a 50/50 joint venture between Arriva UK Trains and MTR Corporation.
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.
Qbuzz is a public transport company in the Netherlands that operates services in South Holland, Utrecht, Drenthe and Groningen. Founded in 2008, it was a subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen from 2013 until 2017. It is currently owned by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
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.
European Sleeper is a Belgian-Dutch cooperative which operates a thrice-weekly open-access night train service between Brussels and Prague, with plans to expand to daily service in the near future. There are also plans for services linking Amsterdam, Brussels and Barcelona via France, expected to commence during the spring of 2025.