Template talk:Train operating companies in the United Kingdom

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The contents of the Template:Current UK TOCs page were merged into Template:Train operating companies in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2018. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected page, please see its history; for the discussion at that location, see its talk page.

The contents of the Template:Defunct UK TOCs page were merged into Template:Train operating companies in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2018. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected page, please see its history; for the discussion at that location, see its talk page.

The contents of the Template:Future UK TOCs page were merged into Template:Train operating companies in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2018. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected page, please see its history; for the discussion at that location, see its talk page.

Is there really a need for the footnotes about the cross-border Irish services?

¹Operates on the Irish railway network. ²Operated joinly by Iarnród Éireann & NI Railways. ³Single daily service to Newry.

It seems to me to be a bit of unnecessary clutter. A daily service to Newry seems like too much detail for a navbox - this is information that can be found by reading the linked articles themselves. Could these footnotes be removed, or at least reduced just to say these operate over the Irish border, and Eurostar is UK-France? Otherwise, we should also include footnotes explaining that Eurostar operates on the French and Belgian networks, and serves Marseille once a day, or whatever, which seems pointless. Cnbrb (talk) 21:17, 3 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Legally speaking, NIR is not a TOC under the Railways Act 1993. So you can say it "operates trains" - but it's not legally a Train Operating Company. As it stands, the box is deliberately misleading. Tony May (talk) 09:13, 29 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Neither, I think, is London Overground - it's a franchise. But perhaps we shouldn't get too hung up on strict definitions and loosen the scope a little, otherwise it's going to baffle the average reader. Maybe just change the title to UK Train Operators or Passenger Train Companies in the UK? Cnbrb (talk) 10:16, 29 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I understand London Overground is legally speaking a TOC. The better thing to do would be to ignore Ireland and restrict it to Great Britain. There's no need to talk about Irish network on a British article. The Irish question just inevitably ends up as a side note that complicates things. Tony May (talk) 10:53, 29 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

OK, yes, that could also be a sensible approach and solve a few problems. Railways are generally discussed in the geographic terms of Great Britain and not the United Kingdom. I do think Eurostar should be retained, as it operates in GB. There is already a separate Template:Irish train operators Cnbrb (talk) 11:51, 29 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Why is Heathrow Express in both the Current & Defunct categories - surely it should be just in the Current category? --Enbytv (talk) 14:42, 18 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A simple mistake. I have removed HE from defunct. Cnbrb (talk) 15:15, 18 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Why is Heathrow Express put as sub-brand whilst although trains are run by GWR under management contract and using GWR safety certificate, Heathrow Express remains a TOC and possess its own safety certificate and services are signes as HX which is HEX ATOC code? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hubert.pr (talk • contribs) 16:35, 13 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]