Railway infrastructure manager

The European Union defines it as "any body or undertaking that is responsible in particular for establishing and maintaining railway infrastructure.

A significant proportion of these companies are state-owned monopolies, responsible for all or most of the railway infrastructure within a given country.

In some places (notably, most of North America) private railway companies own and operate both the infrastructure and rolling stock (for example, Union Pacific).

[3] Outside the European Union it is possible that the same company is owning the infrastructure and also operating trains and in that case this designation might not make sense.

The operation of the railway is through a system of control, originally by mechanical means, but nowadays more usually electronic and computerized.

On timetable, train order, and token-based systems, blocks usually start and end at selected stations.

The presence of a work train on a given section of track will temporarily decrease the capacity of the route.

It is therefore more economically viable to plan such track occupations for periods of reduced usage (e.g. 'off-peak', overnight or holiday times) to minimise the impact on normal services and revenue.

Each transport system represents a contribution to a country's infrastructure, and as such must make economic sense or eventually close.

Rail transport systems are built into the landscape, including both the physical geography (hills, valleys, etc.)

Rail transport systems are often used for purposes they were not designed for, but have evolved into due to changes in human geography.

In many countries, rail subsidies allow unprofitable, but socially desirable, railways to continue to operate.