Galaxy Express Co., Ltd.

Galaxy Express Co., Ltd. is the company of railway operators running the Galaxy Railway Express trains. It is mainly headquartered at Fate Station that resembles a gas nebula.

Overview
Galaxy Express Co., Ltd. was created to centralize the then privatized rail operators as done per collaboration with organic beings and the mechanized shareholders. The company evolved out of the original railway companies of Earth including the Japan Nation Railways before expanding into space. However due to difficulties in expanding beyond the local solar system, the company entered a partnership with with the Machine Empire to obtain further funding and technology. By the time of the Empire's fall however, the company had to change some of their policies.

The limited company is currently under the supervision of company president, Leila Destiny Shura. The company itself owns its own private military and police force to ensure that no harm comes to the railways and their passengers. To people outside the company the employees appear to be rather ruthless as they are known to eliminate any adversary and obstacle without mercy. This however is to ensure that no dangerous elements come upon the trains and the passengers as some incidents have been known to destroy planets. As such the Galaxy Express company take no side in conflicts due to their equipment and weaponry being above the average army. This gives the company an uneasy reputation as some of the inhabitants of areas even fear the passengers of the trains. The security is also known to false alarms that keep them away from planets that are originally part of their trips. There are also issues regarding class with the middle class passengers as well as the distribution of tickets particularly to the Andromeda system that are very expensive with some high class passengers often targeted for murder and theft.

Service
The infinite routes to just about every corner of the universe have different trains turn to those many areas. All routes are managed by the Galaxy Management Stations while following a strict regimen. The station staff rooms are often decorated with portraits of the founder and his child. Being started by the Japan Nation Railways, the trains and paths follow some aspects including: main line, branch line, general station, passenger station (referred to as Mankind Station), freight station, etc.

Management station are separated in each area and are all under a jurisdiction. However there are differences in rules and administration including the Machine Empire's share when bringing flesh and blood bodies over to Machine Men worlds. Regardless, all rules are strict with employees handling passengers very politely and their salaries are regularly payed large sums of money (often in the form of gold coins). Their primary responsibilities are the safety and handling requests of passengers when they are in their power. If a passenger is to die, the crew must take responsibility for that death regardless of who was the catalyst. The locomotive trains also follow an exception to the rules when needing to dispose of crew that have died in duty by going off course for a short while. Crews are also allowed to take a vacation once at the stop station at the endpoint with the vacation determined by the company.

If a criminal of a particular planet is on the train, the crew and passengers follow an extraterritoriality space law as there are no local authorities between trips, allowing the party to arrest or restrain. Even then the criminal is still treated as a passenger and are treated with care and respect.

The tickets used resemble the commuter ticket vouchers that display the words path as a tribute to the JR tickets.

If any accidents occur, a Space Railway Guard is dispatched to protect the passenger's safety. If threats such as Space Pirates are in any way involved, a special forces unit called the Grenadiers are dispatched. But if no help comes, it is up to the crew and passengers to do something as what happened during a stick up.

Terms of Use
The train paths are similar to the JR ways of the company's predecessors. However, it has a much more strict departure time and service and not following them is considered a taboo. Because of this more than a thousand rules are put in place but some seem contradictory to each other. For example, if a planet on a course path were to disappear due to events like natural disasters, this would cause a delay in arrival and departure often causing the need to turn back. However to ensure that passengers to get destinations, the train would need to get to the next destination within the required schedule. Other rules are not as malleable as ones that constitute a passenger being at fault such as not getting back on the train in time will be forced to stay on the location as the train will not come back for them. Missing a departure time means that a ticket is useless and passengers cannot buy new tickets for the same train at other stops. In Maetel's teachings to Tetsuro, every missed chance is the same as death.

Temporary stops and route changes are not recognized, but passengers have been known to make requests to stop at irregular stops if word does not get out and there is no evidence of visiting those areas. Most train landing ports are stopovers featuring hotels and bed & breakfasts for local businesses, although accommodations are often provided by the train. The 999 itself is a special case in that it is strongly encouraged to stay on the train as it is impossible to board again after leaving a passenger behind.

In spite of the strict service guidelines, passengers are well provided and some can even apply for refunds on their tickets within two years as long as it is valid. Validity periods differ depending on the seasons of the tickets and if a train's service has been suspended for more than five years, validity is extended.

Although passengers are often treated with the utmost respect, if they make risky decisions that threaten the car or the train itself such as traffic problems and counterfeiting tickets, a passenger can be expelled immediately by a conductor on duty. If tickets are ever stolen or copies are used, only the original owner can use them with the perpetrators punished to the point of death penalties by public security officers.

The rules can be humanitarian however, as if there is helpless victim the crew will help the person in need and provide for them special services if they are close enough and if it will not interfere with policies. Some trains also demand that these victims buy tickets in order to receive further services. The 999 also has a special rescue service to bring passengers back to their home destinations once the initial trip is finished.

On a separate note, as there are no other public transport services the Galaxy Express company has the sole rights with the only other alternatives being personally owned ships.

Galaxy Administration Headquarters
The primary jurisdiction area of the Galaxy Express company. It was originally located on Earth until it was forced to move on new management to the planet Destiny. There are also command centers including 27866 that sent an alarm to 999.

Space Islands Administration
A secret compartment administration station that has jurisdiction in the inner Milky Way.

Trader Administration
A branch administration that oversees the trade business in the Galaxy company. Most trade is overseen on Heavy Melder with the administration working very close.

Andromeda Administration
The administration station of the Andromeda System. Because it is located on Planet Promethium and because of shareholding rights, the station is under the influence of the Machine Empire.

Routes
The Galaxy Express line routes are numerous and intricate, Leiji Matsumoto even stated that they function similar to the blood vessels and nerve fibers of a human body. The routes feature many stops on numerous planets and habitable worlds, with some branch points in space, and a transfer junction point.
 * Galaxy Main Line: Travels from Earth to the Andromeda System via the Orion-Pleiades route. This is the primary route of the 999.
 * Galactic Center Line: Travels from Earth to Pluto with a Nike-Emeraldas branch point at Pleiades with the 111.
 * Large Orion Line: 222 line traveling through the Orion route after departing from Venus.
 * Iebia Branch Line: 330 limited express line.
 * Magellan Line: 331 operated line until a dimensional accident occurred causing the train to disappear for eight years.
 * Capella High-Speed Line: 333 operated route from Earth to Vega via the Capella.
 * Procyon Main Line: 390 limited express line.
 * Inner Galaxy Loop Line: 444 operated route circulating around the Capella line.
 * Capella Tour Line: 507 limited express train line.
 * Oberon Line: 550 limited express train line.
 * Orion Macro-cyclic Line: 555 operated route that departs from the Orion System.
 * Capella High-Speed Loop Line: 576 operated line.
 * Alta Line: 637 limited express line.
 * Aurora Loop Line: 659 express line.
 * Magellan Contact Line: 666 operated express route that has its starting point at Nike, while moving from Venus through the Magellanic Clouds.
 * Deneb High-Speed Line: Limited Express 701 line.
 * Outer Galaxy Line: A mysterious outer space based line that travels through Orion, Pleiades, Earth, Octopus System, and an unknown Galaxy section. 777 goes through here.
 * Aldebaran Loop Line: 888 Express train line that travels through the Emeraldas branch point through Nike, Orion, Pleiades, up until the Aldebaran trade point.
 * El Alamein Star System Circulation Line
 * Altair New Line
 * Kaitos Sigma Line
 * Mercaptopurine-Toriangri Line
 * Trader Main Line
 * Dorado New Line
 * Regulus Main Line
 * Alpha Centauri Line

Space Orbit
To enable the complete operation of universal travel, the Galaxy company uses a special invisible rail laid throughout the universe. It consists of the Orbital Tube that surrounds the train with breathable air, allowing a window to be opened while traveling through space and act as shielding for the train (for the latter, it is also called the Shield Tube) and Orbital Ring that functions as junction points every 1.5 universal km and protect passengers from space pirate attacks. As long as the vehicle does not warp, the train run on the invisible rails as a form of predetermined trajectories. Inside the tubes is a three-way structure that are built to have the outside function like an upstream as well as allow emergency liners of SDF on either side of the express to ensure no outside forces can force out the train.

Trains
The Galaxy Express uses different trains for purposes including combat and transport. All trains feature a numbering system from 0 to 1000 with a generally three digit rule. Models 00X~099 are generally combat trains used by the SDF while models 100-1000 are generally passenger trains with the primary trains given nicknames along with their numbers. The cars of the trains regarding seating are given a grading system with at least three ordinary cars, two green cars, and at time a first-class car.