All participating railways act as strategic partners within the Railteam alliance and remain entrepreneurially independent.

The aim is to offer passengers seamless travel chains between many European cities, with shorter journey times and more frequent connections, as well as uniform service and quality standards.

The development of a common network should thus offer a competitive alternative to car and plane for destinations within Europe.

[15] Railteam is a corporation under Dutch law, a so-called closed company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap,[16] or B.V.) with its registered office in Amsterdam, comparable to a GmbH in Germany.

The HOTNAT (hop on the next available train) protection is a commercial agreement between the Railteam members.