Editing Rail transport (section)

===Financing===
The main source of income for railway companies is from [[train ticket|ticket]] revenue (for passenger transport) and shipment fees for cargo.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Guan |first1=Xueyi |last2=Qin |first2=Jin |last3=Mao |first3=Chenghui |last4=Zhou |first4=Wenliang |date=January 2023 |title=A Literature Review of Railway Pricing Based on Revenue Management |journal=Mathematics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=857 |doi=10.3390/math11040857 |doi-access=free |issn=2227-7390}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shipping Tariffs |url=https://www.odfl.com/us/en/resources/tariffs.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=Old Dominion Freight Line}}</ref> Discounts and monthly passes are sometimes available for frequent travellers (e.g. [[season ticket]] and [[rail pass]]). Freight revenue may be sold per container slot or for a whole train. Sometimes, the shipper owns the cars and only rents the haulage. For passenger transport, [[advertisement]] income can be significant.

Governments may choose to give subsidies to rail operation, since rail transport has fewer [[externalities]] than other dominant modes of transport. If the railway company is state-owned, the state may simply provide direct subsidies in exchange for increased production. If operations have been privatised, several options are available. Some countries have a system where the infrastructure is owned by a government agency or company&nbsp;– with open access to the tracks for any company that meets safety requirements. In such cases, the state may choose to provide the tracks free of charge, or for a fee that does not cover all costs. This is seen as analogous to the government providing free access to roads. For passenger operations, a direct subsidy may be paid to a public-owned operator, or [[public service obligation]] tender may be held, and a time-limited contract awarded to the lowest bidder. [[Rail transport in Europe#Subsidies|Total EU rail subsidies]] amounted to €73&nbsp;billion in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/technical_report_2007_3/download |title=EU Technical Report 2007 |access-date=26 January 2016 |archive-date=23 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123142006/https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/technical_report_2007_3/download |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Via Rail Canada]] and US passenger rail service [[Amtrak]] are private railroad companies chartered by their respective national governments. As private passenger services declined because of competition from cars and airlines, they became [[shareholder]]s of Amtrak either with a cash entrance fee or relinquishing their locomotives and rolling stock. The government subsidises Amtrak by supplying start-up [[capital (economics)|capital]] and making up for losses at the end of the [[fiscal year]].<ref name="EuDaly, K, et al. 2009. Complete Book of North American Railroading">{{Complete Book of North American Railroading|display-authors=1}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2015}}