Rail transport company facts for kids
A rail transport company is a business that works in the world of rail transport. These companies do different things. They might:
- Make trains and other equipment.
- Run trains, offering services like passenger travel or cargo shipping. These are called railway undertakings.
- Manage the tracks, signals, and stations. These are known as railway infrastructure managers.
In some places, like the United States, one company might do all these jobs. Rail companies can be owned by private people or groups (private companies) or by the government (public companies).
How Rail Companies Work Around the World
In Europe, the European Union (EU) has rules that separate the companies that manage the tracks from the companies that run the trains. This helps different train companies compete fairly. Many companies can then try to win the right to operate trains on a specific line for a certain time. This often involves public service obligations, meaning they have to provide certain services, sometimes with government help (subsidies). Other companies also focus on maintaining the tracks or the trains.
Some countries have one big national railway company that owns all the tracks and runs all the trains. For example, Russian Railways is the world's largest rail company based on the size of its network. Other countries, like the United States and Canada, have many different railway companies. These companies sometimes even compete with each other on different lines. A country can have both public and private rail companies. In the United States, for instance, Amtrak is publicly owned, but many other private companies also operate trains.
See also
In Spanish: Empresa ferroviaria para niños
- Railway undertaking
- Railway infrastructure manager
- List of railway companies
- List of countries by rail transport network size
- Rail transport by country
