Asked By: Carlos Scott Date: created: Apr 25 2024

Are Network Rail private

Answered By: Walter Robinson Date: created: Apr 25 2024

We’re a public sector company that operates as a regulated monopoly – Our income is a mix of direct grants from the UK and Scottish Governments, charges levied on train operators that use our network, and income, mainly from our commercial property estate.

This means that the views of our passengers, customers, partners, the Government and the regulator really matter to us. The governments specify what they need from Britain’s railway and how much they can afford to contribute. Our independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, sets a framework that specifies the level of fixed income we are allowed to charge and assesses the efficient level of expenditure that we need to run our business and deliver the regulated outputs.

It also determines how much revenue we need – more details can be found in our Annual Report.

Asked By: Alejandro Murphy Date: created: Nov 15 2024

Do Network Rail own the railway

Answered By: Angel Harris Date: created: Nov 17 2024

We own and operate the railway infrastructure in England, Scotland and Wales on behalf of the nation. Here we look at what we do, how we are organised, governed and funded.

Who owns the Rail network in UK?

Who owns and runs the UK’s railways? – Britain’s rail network was first nationalised by Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1948 and then privatised again under Sir John Major’s Conservatives in 1993. Network Rail, which runs railway infrastructure in England, Scotland, and Wales, is publicly owned.

However, trains and most smaller stations are split into franchises run by different companies. The pandemic significantly changed the funding of railways, after huge falls in passenger numbers brought most companies to their knees. In September 2020, the franchise system created during privatisation in the mid-1990s was scrapped,

Under franchises, private operators kept fares, which gave them an incentive to generate income through price increases and increased passenger numbers. Now the industry is being run through management contracts, which means the Government effectively keeps all the fares but also bears the risk if fewer people use the railways.

Who owns the Rail system in the UK?

Network Rail owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure   – That’s 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We manage 20 of the UK’s largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are managed by the country’s train operating companies,

Do railways make a profit?

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said while rail workers have had their pay frozen in the same period, official data showed that the private train operators made £310 million in taxpayer-funded profits between March 2020 and September 2022.

Asked By: Aaron Harris Date: created: Oct 05 2023

Who has the largest Rail network

Answered By: Julian Jones Date: created: Oct 05 2023

5 Largest railway networks in the world The United States possesses the largest railway network in the world, in terms of total operating length. China and India trail behind as the second and third largest railway networks respectively. Detailed profiles of the top five railway networks worldwide, taking into consideration their extensive coverage.

  1. These profiles are based on the measurement of total operating length, which serves as a key indicator of the scale and magnitude of each country’s railway infrastructure.
  2. United States: 250,000km The US rail network, with an operating route length over 250,000km, is the biggest in the world.
  3. Freight lines constitute about 80% of the country’s total rail network, while the total passenger network spans about 35,000km.The US freight rail network consists of 538 railroads (seven Class I railroads, 21 regional railroads, and 510 local railroads) operated by private organisations.

China: 100,000km China’s rail network, with a route length of over 100,000km, ranks as the second biggest rail network in the world. The extensive network, operated by state-owned China Railway Corporation, carried 2.08 billion passengers (the second highest after Indian Railways) and 3.22 billion tonnes of freight (the second highest after the US railway network) in 2013.

  1. Rail is the principal mode of transport in China Russia: 85,500km Russia’s whole network, operated by state-owned monopoly Russian Railways (RZD), runs for over 85,500km.
  2. In 2013, the network carried 1.08 billion passengers and 1.2 billion tonnes of freight, the third highest freight volume after the US and China.

The Russian railway network incorporates12 main lines, many of which provide direct connections to the European and Asian national railway systems such as Finland, France, Germany, Poland, China, Mongolia and North Korea India: 65,000km The Indian nationwide rail network, the fourth longest in the world, is owned and operated by state-owned Indian Railways and includes an operating route length of more than 65,000km.

The network carried about eight billion passengers (the highest in the world) and 1.01 million tonnes of freight (fourth highest in the world) in 2013.The Indian railway network is divided into 17 zones and operates more than 19,000 trains per day, including 12,000 passenger trains and 7,000 freight trains.

Canada: 48,000km Canada’s 48,000km of rail lines makes its national network the fifth longest in the world. Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) are the two major freight rail networks operating in the country, while Via Rail operates the 12,500km intercity passenger rail service.

Asked By: Rodrigo Howard Date: created: Sep 11 2023

Who controls Rail traffic

Answered By: Steven Green Date: created: Sep 11 2023

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Active Union Switch and Signal Co relay based CTC machine at THORN tower in Thorndale, Pennsylvania Centralized traffic control ( CTC ) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves.

The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher ‘s office that controls railroad interlockings and traffic flows in portions of the rail system designated as CTC territory. One hallmark of CTC is a control panel with a graphical depiction of the railroad. On this panel, the dispatcher can keep track of trains’ locations across the territory that the dispatcher controls.

Larger railroads may have multiple dispatcher’s offices and even multiple dispatchers for each operating division. These offices are usually located near the busiest yards or stations, and their operational qualities can be compared to air traffic towers,

Asked By: George Moore Date: created: Sep 14 2024

Who is responsible for Rail infrastructure

Answered By: Lucas Lewis Date: created: Sep 17 2024

Railway networks The rail infrastructure in the UK is complex and comprises of a number of different bodies. We are the health and safety regulator for the UK’s mainline network and for a number of other forms of transport that run on rail. Network Rail is the owner and operator of the majority of national railway infrastructure.

It must ensure safe and effective management and development of that infrastructure. We regulate both London Underground Limited (LU) and the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). We have responsibility for health and safety on light rail and tramways. There is no specific safety legislation for these systems.

We provide guidance to minor rail operators with advice and assistance on safety requirements. We also impose certain constraints on minor railways in reaction to speed and weight limits. The UK Regulators’ Network has developed a set of guiding good practice principles to assist network operators improve services to those building new infrastructure, or otherwise working near, their existing assets.

Asked By: Matthew Butler Date: created: Nov 29 2023

Who owns the rails in Europe

Answered By: Carl Coleman Date: created: Nov 30 2023

On recent trips to Europe, I rode the London Underground, traveled on trains to the north of Scotland, zipped to Paris on the Eurostar, took the TGV to Lyon, and tripped on trams in cities from Glasgow to Sofia, Bulgaria. Americans coming home from trips like this would easily wonder why we don’t have similarly great passenger rail systems.

  • Here rail travelers have to deal with crumbling infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor and New York, Boston, Washington, and other metro systems.
  • The reality is that Europe’s trains are enjoyed by tourists, but they don’t work that much better for Europeans than the U.S.
  • System works for Americans.
  • According to a report published by the European Union, the average European travels a little over 600 miles a year by rail compared with a little over 100 miles by the average American.
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Yes, that’s six times as much, but the 500‐​mile difference comes with huge tradeoffs. First, the high fuel taxes and other policies Europe uses to encourage train travel and discourage driving have greatly suppressed total mobility. According to the same European Union report, the average American travels 15,000 miles a year by automobile compared with fewer than 6,000 by the average European.

  1. Gaining 500 rail miles at the expense of losing 9,000 other miles is hardly fair.
  2. Second, Europe’s decision to dedicate its rail network mainly to passengers has pushed a huge amount of freight onto the highways.
  3. The same EU report says that 46 percent of European freight goes by truck while only 11 percent goes by rail, while in the United States more than 40 percent goes by rail while just 30 percent goes on the highway.

Moving all of that freight by rail saves a lot more energy than moving a few passengers by rail. Contrary to claims that our railroads are somehow technologically behind those of other countries, we have the most efficient rail network in the world. Third, subsidies to European trains, especially the infrastructure‐​heavy high‐​speed rail lines, have left many countries deeply in debt,

Those debts are large enough to undermine the entire economies of some countries, just as the massive — $350 billion in today’s dollars — Japanese National Railways debt in the late 1980s contributed to Japan’s decades of economic doldrums since then. Nor have those debts gotten many people out of their cars or airline seats and onto trains.

High‐​speed rail advocates brag that some rail lines have captured passengers away from the airlines, but the latest report from the European Union says that air travel in Europe is growing more than twice as fast as train travel: 4.9 percent per year versus 2.1 percent.

  1. To the extent that train travel is growing, it is taking passengers not from cars or planes but from buses that are more energy efficient and require far fewer subsidies than trains.
  2. What about all the trams (streetcars) and metros (subways and elevateds) that seem to blanket European cities? Something like 140 cities in Europe have rail transit systems, compared with just 40 in the United States.

Yet the average European rides trams and metros just twice as many miles a year — about 120 versus 60 — as the average American. Is it really worth tens of billions in additional subsidies to increase urban rail ridership by an average of 60 miles a year? If passenger rail doesn’t work that well, then why do so many European countries support it? The simple answer is that most railroads in Europe are government owned, while most railroads in America are private.

  • While private owners operate efficiently to earn profits, the politicians who run state‐​owned railroads are more interested in doing things that are highly visible to voters, whether they are worthwhile or not.
  • The bottom line is that passenger rail is expensive because it requires so much costly infrastructure compared with airlines or even highways.

As a result, it has always been used mainly by the wealthy and elites, not by ordinary people whose mobility was often limited to foot travel until mass produced automobiles became available. I love passenger trains as much as anyone and more than most.

Asked By: Albert Baker Date: created: Jan 01 2025

Does Warren Buffett own Rail

Answered By: Landon Watson Date: created: Jan 03 2025

Why Did Warren Buffett Buy BNSF? – Warren Buffett bought BNSF because he believes that railways play a crucial role in the success of America’s economy. Buffett doesn’t believe in short-term investment strategies that can lead to quick profits. Instead, he takes a long-term perspective that involves purchasing a company and improving its performance over the years.

Buffett says that he considers buying BNSF an ” all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,” It’s important to consider that buying BNSF does more than help Berkshire Hathaway earns returns from within the railway industry. It also gives Buffett opportunities to make his other investments more valuable.

With more efficient railways, companies that need to distribute products all over the country can improve their profits. By purchasing BNSF, Buffett made an investment that helps streamline the supply chain processes of his other businesses. Analysts have several theories about why Warren Buffett bought BNSF.

Asked By: Bryan Mitchell Date: created: May 28 2024

Who owns the rails in Germany

Answered By: Martin Sanchez Date: created: May 29 2024

Overview – In 2018, railways in Germany transported the following amount of passengers and freight.

Passenger/payload-distance Passenger/payload Average distance
Passenger Long-distance 42,886,000,000 pkm 148,629,000 289 km
Local 54,919,000,000 pkm 2,724,800,000 20 km
Sum 97,805,000,000 pkm 2,873,429,000 34 km
Freight 116,273,000,000 tkm 354,430,000 t 328 km

In 2014 (local passenger) and 2015 (other), there were the following amount of railway cars in Germany.

Passenger Freight Sum
Long-distance Local
High speed Other Railways Tramways
EMUs 143 5581 6371 12114
DMUs 19
Electric locomotives 164 228 1142 1627 4174
Diesel locomotives 29 984
Carriages 972 1706 4397 786 8013
Control cars 45 107
Wagons 141143 141143

Deutsche Bahn (state-owned private company) is the main provider of railway service. In recent years a number of competitors have started business. They mostly offer state funded regional services, but some companies offer long-distance services as well.

  • In 2016, Deutsche Bahn had a share of 67% in the regional railway market and 68.6% in the inland freight market.
  • As of October 2016, there were 452 railway operators registered in Germany, among them 124 regional passenger operators, 20 long-distance operators, and 163 freight operators.
  • In 2018, public sector funding accounted for 25.6% of the cost of short-distance passenger transport including all rail and bus services.

The long-distance market generally does not require government funding.

Asked By: Elijah Diaz Date: created: Mar 18 2024

How much does Andrew Haines earn

Answered By: Christian Smith Date: created: Mar 18 2024

Network Rail boss defends £590,000 salary as 45,000 workers strike over pay Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines has dismissed questions about his £590,000 salary, as tens of thousands of railway workers go on strike over pay and conditions. A BBC Breakfast reporter this morning highlighted Mr Haines’ recent pay rise from £544,000 to £590,000, saying: “It’s a huge amount of money to people listening to this.

Some 45,000 transport workers, including signallers, station guards and train crew, have,The union says they are demanding that employers “get serious about providing an offer on pay which helps deal with the cost-of-living crisis, job security for our members and provides good conditions at work”.Speaking to the BBC, Mr Haines said that he “really understands why people are worried about cost of living.”

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However, he insisted that his pay was irrelevant to the RMT Union’s demands, saying: “I’m well paid, but this strike is not about my pay. People are not going on strike about how much I earn.” Meanwhile, RMT Union boss Mick Lynch denied that he himself is on a six-figure salary, telling presenters on Good Morning Britain, ” That’s completely untrue.” “What support are you giving members, because you’re on a six figure salary.

I’m not going to demonise you for that this morning. Politicians are on a six figure salary,” presenter Paul Brand said to Mr Lynch. Mr Lynch immediately refuted the claim, saying: “I’m not. I’m not on a six figure salary. That’s completely untrue.” “Where did you get that from? I’m not on a six figure salary,” he added.

When Mr Brand said newspapers had published this claim as fact, Mr Lynch responded: “They’re wrong and not telling the truth.” On Friday, that will put much of London’s transport network out of action, including the Tube, Overground and some buses. : Network Rail boss defends £590,000 salary as 45,000 workers strike over pay

Asked By: Daniel Sanders Date: created: Sep 16 2023

Who owns the London Underground

Answered By: Cody Jenkins Date: created: Sep 19 2023

This article is about the rapid transit system in London. For the album by Herbie Mann, see London Underground (album),

London Underground
The nickname “Tube” comes from the circular tube-like tunnels through which the small profile trains travel. (Deep level Northern line London Underground 1995 Stock train)
A sub-surface Metropolitan line train ( S8 Stock ) at Farringdon
Overview
Locale Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire
Transit type Rapid transit
Number of lines 11
Number of stations 272 served (262 owned)
Daily ridership 3.15 million (January 2023)
Annual ridership 1.026 billion (2022/2023)
Website tfl,gov,uk /modes /tube /
Operation
Began operation 10 January 1863 ; 160 years ago
Operator(s) London Underground Limited
Reporting marks LT ( National Rail )
Technical
System length 402 km (250 mi)
Track gauge
  • 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge (1863–pres.)
  • 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) Brunel gauge (1863–1869)
Electrification 630 V DC fourth rail
Average speed 33 km/h (21 mph)

The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube ) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, opening on 10 January 1863 as the world’s first underground passenger railway.

  • It is now part of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines,
  • The first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line,
  • The network has expanded to 11 lines with 250 miles (400 km) of track.
  • However, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London ; there are only 33 Underground stations south of the River Thames,

The system’s 272 stations collectively accommodate up to 5 million passenger journeys a day. In 2020/21 it was used for 296 million passenger journeys, making it one of the world’s busiest metro systems, The system’s first tunnels were built just below the ground, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level.

Despite its name, only 45% of the system is under the ground: much of the network in the outer environs of London is on the surface. The early tube lines, originally owned by several private companies, were brought together under the Underground brand in the early 20th century, and eventually merged along with the sub-surface lines and bus services in 1933 to form London Transport under the control of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB).

The current operator, London Underground Limited (LUL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares.

  1. The Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster card, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003.
  2. Contactless bank card payments were introduced in 2014, the first such use on a public transport system.
  3. The LPTB commissioned many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style.

The schematic Tube map, designed by Harry Beck in 1931, was voted a national design icon in 2006 and now includes other transport systems besides the Underground, such as the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, Thameslink, the Elizabeth line, and Tramlink,

What is the budget of the Network Rail?

The budget is 1.8 billion pounds higher than the budget of the last five year plan.2023, Network Rail Network Rail published its five-year plan for its English and Welsh railways. This 44.1-billion pound plan (50.9 billion euro) will be in place for the period of April 2024 to 2029.

  • The plan will see increased investment in the fight against climate change, and improving train performance.
  • It also pays special attention to passengers and freight.
  • After adjusting for changes in electricity costs, the budget is 1.8 billion pounds higher than the budget of the last five year plan, in effect between 2019 and 2024.

Scotland’s plan will be published shortly. Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines stated: “As we look to the next five years, the Government’s commitment to invest 44 billion in the operations, maintenance and renewal of England and Wales’s railway is a clear indication of the strong economic value rail brings to Britain.” In December the Department for Transport (DfT) published their High Level Output Statement (HLOS) and a Statement of Funds Available (SoFA).

Asked By: Louis Roberts Date: created: Sep 24 2023

Who is the CEO of Network Rail

Answered By: Lucas Parker Date: created: Sep 25 2023

Skills and experience – Andrew Haines was appointed as Chief Executive and Board member of Network Rail in August 2018. Following the publication of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail in May 2021, Andrew was also tasked with establishing interim arrangements for the creation of Great British Railways, alongside his role in Network Rail.

Prior to joining Network Rail, Andrew was the chief executive officer of the Civil Aviation Authority from 2009-2018. He has also had a wide-ranging career within the rail industry, having started his career with British Rail and followed on to work for Railtrack, Network Rail’s predecessor. He served as managing director of South West Trains and managing director FirstGroup plc where he led the rail division which included intercity, commuter, rural, freight, open access and tram services in England, Scotland and Wales.

In addition, he was a non-executive director at a rolling stock leasing company. Andrew was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year Honour’s list for services to transport and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Institute of Railway Operators and the Permanent Way Institute.

Who owns most of the railroads?

America’s freight railroads are almost entirely privately owned and operated. Unlike trucks and barges, freight railroads operate overwhelmingly on infrastructure they own, build, maintain and pay for themselves.

Asked By: Sean Jones Date: created: Apr 04 2024

Who owns most of the railway

Answered By: Benjamin Green Date: created: Apr 06 2024

Who owns the railroads By Assistant President Arty Martin andGS&T Kim Thompson Among the most difficult challenges facing us in 2009 arrives in November, when we exchange Railway Labor Act Section 6 notices with the carriers — the list of each side’s demands for the next collective bargaining round.

  1. Our national rail contract is open for renewal on Jan.1, 2010, and this upcoming bargaining round will be among our toughest ever given the deteriorating state of the national economy, the advance of technology and Wall Street pressure on railroads to deliver increased profits.
  2. While the national rail contract affects members on only BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, these national contracts tend to be a trend setter for bargaining on other freight railroads and Amtrak, and are frequently referred to by commuter railroads.
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A reasonable individual might have good reason to assume the upcoming bargaining round will be favorable to employees. After all, railroads are among today’s few solidly profitable industries in America, and Wall Street confirms they have unprecedented pricing power.

  1. Moreover, the carriers continue to improve productivity, and it is the workers — especially operating craft employees — who are most responsible.
  2. Indeed, the railroads’ own figures, as published by the Association of American Railroads, show that revenue ton-miles per employee — the best benchmark for measuring productivity — has soared five-fold since 1980, from 2.1 million revenue ton-miles per employee to almost 11 million revenue ton-miles per employee today.

Accordingly, the railroads’ labor costs have declined by 43 percent — from 46.5 cents of every revenue dollar in 1980, to 26.4 cents of every revenue dollar today. This is because the employee headcount has dropped from 532,000 in 1980 to 236,000 today — a 56 percent decline in workers, while productivity has soared.

  1. Among train and engine service employees, the head count fell from almost 136,000 in 1980 to fewer than 70,000 train and engine service employees today.
  2. Unfortunately, none of this matters to the carriers at the bargaining table, because it is hot Wall Street dollars that set the tone of carrier Section 6 notices.

Perhaps you have noticed Wall Street investment funds have been buying up shares of the major railroads. BNSF, for example, is 46 percent owned by Wall Street investment funds. At CSX, the figure is 35 percent; at Union Pacific, 34 percent; at Kansas City Southern, 33 percent; and at Norfolk Southern, 32 percent, according to Bloomberg News.

These investment funds, some of them based in foreign countries, have a narrow focus of increasing stock price and increasing dividend payouts — often without concern to an appropriate level of railroad maintenance, and certainly without concern for employees and their families.For sure, investment funds are behind the anti-labor policies at Wal-Mart and policies that export good American jobs overseas.What a labor union does is to fight back — and the UTU will be spending the months leading up to the exchange of Section 6 notices by building our case on behalf of our members. Who Owns the Railroads

BNSF
Berkshire Hathaway 21.8%
Capital Research Global 5.6%
Barclays Global 3.3%
UBS Global 3.0%
Vanguard Group 2.8%
State Street Corp. 2.7%
Fidelity Mgt. 2.4%
Capital World Invest. 1.7%
JP Morgan Chase 1.2%
Barrow, Hanley 1.2%
Total 45.7%
CSX
Citigroup 5.4%
Barclays Global 4.7%
Children’s Invest. Fund 4.5%
3G Capital 4.4%
Deutsche Bank 4.2%
State Street Corp. 3.6%
Vanguard Group 3.2%
Tiger Global 1.9%
Bank of N.Y. 1.6%
JP Morgan Chase 1.3%
Total 34.8%
KCS
Neuberger Berman 6.2%
Wellington Mgt. 5.7%
Marathon Asset Mgt. 4.1%
Barclays Global 3.6%
Vanguard Group 3.0%
Keeley Asset Mgt. 2.8%
Bank of America 2.4%
Prudential 1.9%
Munder Capital Mgt. 1.9%
AXA 1.8%
Total 33.4%
Norfolk Southern
Capital Research Global 5.0%
Marsico Capital Mgt. 4.8%
JP Morgan Chase 4.7%
Barclays Global 4.5%
State Street Corp. 3.2%
Vanguard Group 3.1%
Fidelity Mgt. 2.7%
Pioneer Investment 1.3%
Dimensional Fund 1.3%
Capital World Invest. 1.1%
Total 31.7%
Union Pacific
Marsico Capital Mgt. 6.6%
Children’s Invest. Fund 4.7%
Barclays Global 4.4%
Capital World Invest. 3.4%
State Street Corp. 3.2%
Vanguard Group 3.0%
AXA 2.9%
Fidelity Mgt. 2.5%
Bank of America 1.9%
Berkshire Hathaway 1.8%
Total 34.4%

Source: Bloomberg News : Who owns the railroads

Asked By: Aaron Patterson Date: created: Jan 26 2024

Does Warren Buffett own Rail

Answered By: Christian Jones Date: created: Jan 26 2024

Why Did Warren Buffett Buy BNSF? – Warren Buffett bought BNSF because he believes that railways play a crucial role in the success of America’s economy. Buffett doesn’t believe in short-term investment strategies that can lead to quick profits. Instead, he takes a long-term perspective that involves purchasing a company and improving its performance over the years.

Buffett says that he considers buying BNSF an ” all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,” It’s important to consider that buying BNSF does more than help Berkshire Hathaway earns returns from within the railway industry. It also gives Buffett opportunities to make his other investments more valuable.

With more efficient railways, companies that need to distribute products all over the country can improve their profits. By purchasing BNSF, Buffett made an investment that helps streamline the supply chain processes of his other businesses. Analysts have several theories about why Warren Buffett bought BNSF.

Who owns the London Underground?

This article is about the rapid transit system in London. For the album by Herbie Mann, see London Underground (album),

London Underground
The nickname “Tube” comes from the circular tube-like tunnels through which the small profile trains travel. (Deep level Northern line London Underground 1995 Stock train)
A sub-surface Metropolitan line train ( S8 Stock ) at Farringdon
Overview
Locale Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire
Transit type Rapid transit
Number of lines 11
Number of stations 272 served (262 owned)
Daily ridership 3.15 million (January 2023)
Annual ridership 1.026 billion (2022/2023)
Website tfl,gov,uk /modes /tube /
Operation
Began operation 10 January 1863 ; 160 years ago
Operator(s) London Underground Limited
Reporting marks LT ( National Rail )
Technical
System length 402 km (250 mi)
Track gauge
  • 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge (1863–pres.)
  • 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) Brunel gauge (1863–1869)
Electrification 630 V DC fourth rail
Average speed 33 km/h (21 mph)

The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube ) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, opening on 10 January 1863 as the world’s first underground passenger railway.

It is now part of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, The first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line, The network has expanded to 11 lines with 250 miles (400 km) of track. However, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London ; there are only 33 Underground stations south of the River Thames,

The system’s 272 stations collectively accommodate up to 5 million passenger journeys a day. In 2020/21 it was used for 296 million passenger journeys, making it one of the world’s busiest metro systems, The system’s first tunnels were built just below the ground, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level.

Despite its name, only 45% of the system is under the ground: much of the network in the outer environs of London is on the surface. The early tube lines, originally owned by several private companies, were brought together under the Underground brand in the early 20th century, and eventually merged along with the sub-surface lines and bus services in 1933 to form London Transport under the control of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB).

The current operator, London Underground Limited (LUL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares.

The Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster card, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless bank card payments were introduced in 2014, the first such use on a public transport system. The LPTB commissioned many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style.

The schematic Tube map, designed by Harry Beck in 1931, was voted a national design icon in 2006 and now includes other transport systems besides the Underground, such as the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, Thameslink, the Elizabeth line, and Tramlink,