The Rail Delivery Group (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 Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

and

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

History

From 24 October 2017, RDG replaced: * The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), comprising the passenger train operating companies. ATOC was set up by the train operators to ensure nationwide services – such as ticket acceptance and railcards – continued after the privatisation of the railways under the

Railways Act 1993 The Railways Act 1993c 43 was introduced by John Major's Conservative government and passed on 5 November 1993. It provided for the restructuring of the British Railways Board (BRB), the public corporation that owned and operated the national ra ...

. ATOC also lobbied on the operators' behalf. * The former Rail Delivery Group, formed in 2011 to formulate policy and undertake communications on behalf of the entire rail industry. At first the group's members were the major passenger and freight train operator groups, together with

; membership was widened to all passenger and freight operators in 2013. The new RDG is owned by its members, which are: *

, the nationalised owner of the rail infrastructure *The

train operating companies A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. T ...

that provide passenger services *The freight operating companies *The Rail Supply Group (RSG), representing the rail supply industry * HS2 Ltd, the company building a high-speed line The current RDG owns both the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

and 'Britain Runs on Rail' brands. The company's legal name continues to be ATOC Limited.

Main operations

* Revenue allocation and settlement through ORCATS systems * National Rail Enquiries *

Railcard There is no single 'discount railcard' available on the UK railway network. In addition to the large number and variety of short-term or localised promotional fares that have been available to passengers on the British railway network in recent d ...

marketing * Staff travel arrangements for current and retired railway staff * International products, such as Britrail and Interrail * The relationship with Transport for London * The licensing of third party ticket sellers, such as

travel agents A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

and online sellers such as The Trainline and Red Spotted Hanky * Sponsorship of the Plusbus and Cycle-Rail schemes * Railway policy formulation * Industry communications with the public It also produces the definitive

National Routeing Guide The National Routeing Guide is a document, the definitive resource on the validity (and invalidity) of rail tickets for the purpose of rail travel in England, Wales, and Scotland (that is, the United Kingdom except Northern Ireland). As stated b ...

, defining the validity of tickets, and has some input in the content of the '' National Fares Manual'', which is distributed by the National Rail website. It works with RSG to coordinate shared objectives.

European equivalents

As rail franchising also takes place in other countries, most European countries have one or more equivalent organisations. In Germany, the '' Tarifverband der Bundeseigenen und Nichtbundeseigenen Eisenbahnen in Deutschland'' (Tariff Association of Federal and Non-Federal Railways in Germany; TBNE) is responsible for railway ticket revenue distribution. Political representation of established companies is carried out by the 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) represent the sector , aims to contribute to changes and regulatory improvement and support and defend the rail transport mode. In Sweden, the equivalent organisation is the '' Branschföreningen Tågoperatörerna'' (Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies).

References

External links

* {{Authority control British companies established in 1993 Business organisations based in the United Kingdom Railway companies of the United Kingdom Railway associations Organisations based in the City of London Transport organisations based in the United Kingdom 1993 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Main operations

European equivalents

See also

References

External links