Association of Train Operating Companies
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Formerly called
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Association of Train Operating Companies |
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| Industry | Rail transport |
| Predecessor | Association of Train Operating Companies, British Rail |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Website | www |
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), formerly Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), is a body that represents the 23 train operating companies that provide passenger services on the privatised British railway system. It owns the National Rail brand. RDG is an unincorporated association owned by its members. It was set up by the train operators formed during privatisation of the railways under the Railways Act 1993. Its office is in London.
Services provided by the Rail Delivery Group include National Rail Enquiries, sponsorship of the Plusbus schemes, the management of rail discount cards and the licensing of railway travel agents. It also produces the definitive National Routeing Guide, available on its website, 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.
In December 2009 ATOC outsourced call centre operations for National Rail Enquiries to India with the loss of 200 jobs in the UK. The House of Commons Transport Select Committee had considered the move in 2004.
On 15 June 2009, ATOC published the report, Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network, an analysis for short-term localised development of the passenger network, detailing schemes taking from between two years nine months to six years to complete, that it believed would be commercially viable (i.e. with a benefit-cost ratio greater than 1.0). These would complement existing long-term national projects. The report detailed up to 40 communities with a population of over 15,000 where stations could be built or re-opened, including 14 schemes involving using new or re-opened lines, and seven new Parkway stations on existing passenger lines.
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