Íslenskir Járnbrautir

Íslenskir Járnbrautir or IJ is the national railway infrastructure company of. It owns the entire rail network of the country, including the rail link and the light railway system in the. It's sole shareholder is the Icelandic government.

History
On August 8, 1998, 66% of the stock in the company was sold by the government to IJ Acquisition Group Ltd., a consortium of the (31.5%),  (31.5%),  (5%), and IJ Samgöngufjárfesting Hf. (led by Icelandic entrepreneurs Matthias Irnes Abrahamsson and Grímur Þórarinsson) (44%). As part of the buyout, the company introduced a new logo and corporate identity. The new logo included the letters "I" and "J" that are colored red and are merged each other to symbolize the company's name.

The railway was bought back by the government in a transaction completed in July 2009. Two new wholly-owned subsidiaries were formed: IJ Járnbrautargerð Hf., responsible for managing the railway infrastructure, and IJ Farmþjónusta Hf., which took over the parent company's freight operations. This was to comply with European Union legislation.

1998 revitalization
When the railway was bought out in 1998, most rolling stock was replaced. The railroad has a fleet of several historic passenger cars in service, including Engill Friðarins, a vintage railcar built for the  in 1952, and Guð Sjávarins, a ex-  dome/observation car built in 1954. The other passenger cars were built for IJ by in.

As of 2021, the railway's motive power consists of seven ex- s, five s, a and two s brought over by the, a , and twelve s. The locomotive numbering scheme begins with 1918, honoring the year Iceland declared independence.

Light rail
The light rail system was originally launched in 2001. IJ purchased five ex- trainsets, which were refurbished by. The coupling system was modified to add a swing-up/swing-down Janney coupler over the Scharfenberg coupler, so a regular diesel locomotive could tow them in case of a power failure.

In 2004, the Capital Region light rail service acquired six trams.

Airport link
IJ also operates a rail link to, which opened in 2006. The link is operated by -built EMU sets. These EMUs are derived from the railcars built by Bombardier for the.