Train Operating Companies – the British Scenario

The railway network in Great Britain has been divided into two independent systems. The first one is on the islands of the United Kingdom. It includes the Isle of Wight and Northern Ireland and also the Republic of Ireland. Passenger trains in United Kingdom are operated by several companies. These companies are popularly known as the Train Operating Companies, or TOCs. These TOCs are ordinarily awarded the franchises relating to the regions by the Transport Department Rail Group. Until the year 2005 this was carried out by the Strategic Rail Authority.

On the other hand the infrastructure of railways including the tracks, signals, stations, etc. are all regulated by the Network Rail that took over the role from the Railtrack in the year 2002. Among the train operating companies, the majority are Rolling Stock Companies, or ROSCOs, that operate the passenger services. These services in turn are leased out to individual TOCs. There are also a few train operating companies that own their own rolling stock.

An important feature about the train operating companies that run passenger services in the United Kingdom is that they are all private companies. The railway network is divided geographically among these companies who operate the passenger services under the auspice of the National Rail. They can bid for the slots from time to time due to the fact that they are private companies. The operators therefore are categorized as Open-Access Operators and they are not considered to be ordinary franchise holders.