52-842: Arriva Trains Merseyside was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Merseyrail Electrics franchise from January 1997 until July 2003, when the Merseyrail railway franchise was transformed into the local Merseyrail concession, owned by the Merseyrail Passenger Transport Executive ( Merseytravel ). The Merseyrail Electrics franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to MTL with operations commencing on 19 January 1997. MTL retained
104-712: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside
156-571: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by
208-430: A fleet of Class 73 locomotives and Class 936 EMUs for use on infrastructure trains; these were sold in 2002. Arriva Trains Merseyside's fleet was maintained at Birkenhead North Depot . Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC ) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since
260-511: A national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017,
312-696: A national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons the railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which
364-486: A relationship with various regional and municipal transport authorities, such as Transport for London . An early pledge made by RDG was the simplification of the British railway ticketing system. During the summer of 2018, it announced measures in line with this objective, including the renaming of half a million tickets, the adoption of simpler language, and a redesign of ticket machines. The RDG has worked closely with
416-653: A wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly the Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of
468-655: Is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling –
520-472: Is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease
572-706: The Deutschlandtarifverbund (German Tariff Association) is responsible for railway ticket revenue distribution. Political representation of established companies is carried out by the Association of German Transport Companies ( Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen , VDV), whereas public relations of new entrant TOCs are chiefly dealt with by Mofair e.V. In Spain the Asociación Española de Empresas Ferroviarias de Viajeros (Spanish Association of Passenger Rail Companies) represents
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#1732782363459624-617: The Community Rail Network to support local organisations active on their railway lines and station facilities; this initiative was claimed to have boosted the accessibility of railway services. Since its launch, the RDG has supported Rail to Refuge, a joint initiative between several passenger train operators and Women's Aid (an English charity), which provides free train travel within Britain for women, men and children travelling to escape domestic abuse . In response to
676-824: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of
728-541: The InterCity East Coast franchise. Rail Delivery Group The Rail Delivery Group Limited ( RDG ), previously the Association of Train Operating Companies , is the British rail industry membership body that brings together passenger and freight rail companies, Network Rail and High Speed 2 . The RDG is approximately half-funded by Network Rail, the remainder of its funding being provided by
780-899: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of
832-645: The National Rail and 'Britain Runs on Rail' brands. Furthermore, it is responsible for several international products, such as 'Britrail' and Interrail . The marketing of the Railcard scheme also comes within the organisation's scope. The RDG is partially responsible for railway policy formulation; it works with the Rail Supply Group and other parties to coordinate shared objectives. It also has
884-736: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains
936-572: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating
988-732: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,
1040-405: The privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for
1092-426: The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the RDG quickly led a scheme to provide free rail travel to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict. The management of station-based automatic ticket gates and ticket machines across the majority of British railway stations has been a particularly active area for the RDG. Throughout the 2010s, in coordination with the Office of Road and Rail , the organisation worked to open
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#17327823634591144-544: The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), and the Rail Delivery Group. The original Rail Delivery Group was established in 2011 to formulate policy and undertake communications on behalf of the entire railway industry, its membership having comprised all passenger and freight operators in the UK. ATOC was a representative organisation for the various passenger train operating companies operating in Britain; it
1196-565: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded
1248-659: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that
1300-477: The Merseyrail Electrics brand. On 18 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva , and on 27 April 2001, rebranded as Arriva Trains Merseyside. On 23 April 2003, Serco-Abellio were awarded the Merseyrail Electrics franchise with the services operated by Arriva Trains Merseyside transferring to Merseyrail on 20 July 2003. Arriva Trains Merseyside inherited a fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 electric multiple units from Regional Railways . It also inherited
1352-587: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became
1404-582: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises
1456-466: The buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of
1508-404: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs
1560-518: The duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or
1612-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating
Arriva Trains Merseyside - Misplaced Pages Continue
1664-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in
1716-614: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,
1768-589: The nationalised owner of Britain's rail infrastructure; the various train operating companies that provide passenger services; the freight operating companies ; the Rail Supply Group (RSG) that represents suppliers to the industry; and HS2 Ltd , the company building a high-speed line. While the RDG name was publicly adopted following the merger, the company's legal name has continued to be ATOC Limited. The RDG describes its primary purpose as enabling train operating companies and Network Rail to deliver better services for end customers. It performs various key roles in
1820-412: The opening-up of automatic ticket gates and ticket machines to competition, and the incorporation of new anti- fare evasion technologies at stations. During 2023, the RDG announced the planned closure of many staffed ticket booths across the network; later that same year, the plan was officially abandoned in the face of public opposition. The current RDG has its roots in two preceding organisations,
1872-640: The operation of Britain's railways. Amongst these are defining the validity of tickets, producing the definitive National Routeing Guide , and contributing to the National Fares Manual , which is distributed by the National Rail website. The organisation is responsible for the allocation and settlement of revenue through ORCATS systems. It also handles the licensing (accreditation) of third party ticket sellers, such as travel agents and online sellers (such as Trainline and Red Spotted Hanky). RDG also performs industry-wide communications with
1924-578: The overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside
1976-599: The public, and is responsible for the National Rail Enquiries service. Between 1997 and 2004, the outsourcing specialist Serco was subcontracted to operate the National Rail Enquiry Service by ATOC. The RDG's public relations activities include the sponsorship of various schemes, such as PlusBus , PlusBike, and Bike and Go, as well as staff travel arrangements for both current and retired railway employees. RDG owns both
2028-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with
2080-753: The responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside , the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground ,
2132-518: The rollout of contactless payment methods in the South East of England by the end of 2023. In November 2023, the organisation invited suppliers to present proposals for a nationwide contactless ticketing system. In July 2023, RDG announced proposals for the closure of many ticket offices across the network. Several organisations spoke out against this change; Disability Rights UK raised concerns, stating: "The outcome will reduce confidence in
Arriva Trains Merseyside - Misplaced Pages Continue
2184-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over
2236-628: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with
2288-532: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,
2340-588: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under
2392-432: The supply and operation of this equipment to greater market competition. Upgrades to these barriers have also been carried out, including the use of new technology for catching fare evaders; in 2023, the organisation estimated that roughly £240 million in lost revenue was being incurred through fare evasion across Britain's railways annually. The RDG worked with the Department for Transport and other entities to support
2444-511: The various transport groups it represents. The current incarnation of the RDG was created in 2017 from the merger of ATOC and a preceding organisation with the same brand. It performs industry-wide communications, defines ticket validity, participates in the formulation of railway policy, and is responsible for the National Rail Enquiries service. The RDG operates several brands and services, including Interrail and National Rail . Since its creation, it has undertaken several initiatives, such as
2496-608: The whole railway system and end the ability for far too many Disabled people to travel by rail at all." Negative opinions on public safety and security were also voiced. In October 2023, the planned closures were abandoned in the face of opposition from the public and from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) trade union , which was taking strike action at the time. As rail franchising also takes place in other countries, many of these nations have one or more equivalent organisations. In Germany,
2548-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in
2600-451: Was established in the wake of the privatisation of British Rail by the train operators for the purpose of ensuring the continuation of various nationwide services, such as ticket acceptance and railcard schemes. ATOC also lobbied on the operators' behalf on various matters. On 24 October 2017, ATOC and the original RDG were merged to form the Rail Delivery Group. The new organisation is owned by its members, which comprise Network Rail ,
2652-548: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these
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#17327823634592704-632: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of
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