Guyana's railways were previously owned by private companies...是什么意思？

Guyana's railways were previously owned by private companies...

圭亚那的铁路以前是归私有企业所有的。

railways

n. 铁路，铁道( railway的名词复数 )，铁路系统；

例句
...the conveyance of bicycles on Regional Railways trains.
通过地区铁路公司的火车运输自行车

were

be的过去时复数和第二人称单数形式，有时代替 was,用于条件从句、动词 wish 之后等；

例句
Shops, houses, and vehicles were set ablaze.
店铺、房子和车辆全都陷于火海。

previously

adv. 事先，以前，仓促，“previous”的派生；

例句
Spassky had never previously lost to his antagonist.
斯帕斯基以往从未输给过他的对手。

owned

adj. 自身拥有的；v. 承认( own的过去式和过去分词 )，拥有，服从于，认领；

例句
Although the offences were horrific it was to her credit that she had owned up.
她的犯罪手段很残忍，但她的供认不讳还是可以认可的。

by

prep. 在…旁边，表示方式，由于，经过；adv. 经过，表示保留或保存时用，短暂拜访；

例句
...expensive make-up that we saw being advertised by a beautiful model...
我们所见的由一位漂亮模特代言的昂贵化妆品

private

adj. 私有的，私人的，秘密的，内心的，平民的，无官职的，士兵的；n. 列兵，士兵，[陆]二等兵，〈古〉私人，个人，阴部，生殖器；

例句
...incentives to private landlords to accept young people as tenants.
鼓励私人房东租房给年轻人的措施

companies

n. 公司( company的名词复数 )，[军事]连，连队，客人；

例句
The workforce have recently been calling for their working hours to be reduced. Many companies have accordingly switched to a five-day week.
工人们最近一直在呼吁缩短工作时间。许多公司于是转成了一周五天工作制。