Angel Trains was established in March 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail. In November 1995, it was bought by Nomura Holdings, Babcock & Brown, and former InterCity manager John Prideaux. By September of the following year, Angel Trains had contracts with 19 of the 25 train operating companies (TOCs) in the UK, and owned approximately 3,755 vehicles. During December 1997, Angel Trains was sold on to the Royal Bank of Scotland, leading to criticism of the firm having been previously undervalued. The firm quickly expanded into the continental European rail leasing business; this international branch of the firm would be split off as Angel Trains International during 2008 and was subsequently rebranded as Alpha Trains.
In addition to its British Rail-era inventory, Angel Trains acquired new rolling stock, such as the Class 390 'Pendolino' electric multiple units (EMUs), which were introduced by Virgin West Coast during the early 2000s. Following another takeover of the business in 2008, at which point it reportedly held over 40 per cent of the railway rolling stock leasing market in Britain, a major restructuring was undertaken. Since the 2010s, Angel Trains has arranged deals involving Hitachi-built high speed bi-mode trains, such as a deal for 19 five-car Class 802 for train operator TransPennine Express (TPE). Angel Trains has also participated in numerous programs to boost its rolling stock's efficiency and environmental credentials, such as converting several vehicles into hybrid diesel and battery-powered trains, as well as hydrogenfuel cells, as well as other initiatives. Campaigning groups have been critical of the rolling stock company model adopted by John Majors government on the grounds of the profitability the business model can generate for interests and the conceptual concern that members of the public may lose out from a lack of publicly accessible participation by rail travelers and rail freight utilising concerns.
History
Angel Trains was established on 21 March 1994 as a subsidiary of British Rail; its creation was one of many preparatory steps involved in the privatisation of British Rail during the 1990s.[1][2] It was named Angel Trains after the London neighborhood in which British Rail's offices were located.[3] During November 1995, Angel Trains was sold to a consortium of the Japanese financial services company Nomura Holdings (85%), global investment specialist Babcock & Brown (10%) and former InterCity manager John Prideaux (5%); a private consultancy company owned by Prideaux, Prideaux & Associates, was utilised in this deal.[4][5][6]
By September 1996, Angel Trains had contracts in place with 19 of the 25 train operating companies in the UK, and owned approximately 3,755 vehicles, a third of which were less than eight years old at that time. Less than one year after the acquisition, Nomura was already examining options to merge or sell on Angel Trains, or form a joint venture with a train operating company (TOC); it had reportedly encouraged by the recent sale of other ROSCOs, such as Porterbrook to Stagecoach in addition to alleged approaches by unidentified third parties.[7]
During December 1997, Angel Trains was purchased by the financial services group Royal Bank of Scotland in exchange for £395 million.[8][9] The company had been sold at auction by its previous owners, according to the British newspaper The Independent, the bidding for Angel Trains had been quite vigorous.[6] Around this time, allegations arose that companies such as Angel Trains had been privatised for sums that were far too small by the British Government, which led to an in-depth investigation being conducted by the National Audit Office in addition to separate reviews by regulators.[6]
Throughout the late 1990s and into the 2000s, Angel Trains considerably expanded its leasing business, especially in the continental European market. It entered into a joint venture with the German locomotive manufacturer Vossloh, which led to the formation of another leasing company Locomotion Capital, during 2000. Additionally, through investment in its international branches Angel Trains Cargo (leasing freight rolling stock) and Angel Trains Europa (leasing passenger rolling stock), the company became one of the largest rolling stock leasing companies in Europe - specifically in terms of freight locomotives.[citation needed]
Angel Trains also entered into new leasing arrangements for brand new rolling stock around this time. One high profile example was the Class 390 'Pendolino' electric multiple units (EMUs), the initial order for which comprised 54 nine-car units at a cost of £500 million on behalf of Virgin West Coast.[10] Unusually, these trains featured an active tilt system, designed to provide higher passenger comfort while travelling at speed around curves.[11] Due to a large increase in passenger numbers following the WCML modernisation, the Department for Transport announced the procurement of four additional Class 390s, each with 11 cars, while 31 of the existing trainsets were also lengthened to 11 cars to provide increased capacity.[12][13]
In June 2008, Angel Trains was acquired by a consortium of Babcock & Brown, AMP Capital, Arcus European Infrastructure Fund and Deutsche Bank at a reported cost of £3.6 billion.[14][15] Babcock & Brown's head of European infrastructure, Simon Gray, referred to the purchase as "one of the largest acquisitions in Europe in the last few months". At the time, Angel Trains held more than 40 per cent of the railway rolling stock leasing market in Britain.[16]
The 2008 takeover promptly led to a major restructuring of the business' activities; all of its international operations were split out into Angel Trains International, during January 2010, this division was rebranded as Alpha Trains.[17][18][19] During 2015, AMP Capital Investors and PSP Investments increased their shareholdings in Angel Trains to 55% and 30% respectively after purchasing the stock formerly owned by Arcus European Infrastructure Fund.[20][21]
Since the 2010s, Angel Trains has been involved in the supply of Hitachi-built high speed bi-mode trains, such as a deal for 19 five-car Class 802 for train operator TransPennine Express (TPE).[22] Referred to as the Nova 1 by TPE, it was procured under plans to bolster its route capacity by roughly 80%.[23] According to Robin Davis, TPE's Head of New Trains, a major rationale behind the Nova 1 was its bi-mode capability, noting that electrification ambitions often had much uncertainty, while a bi-mode fleet eliminated the operational risk to such uncertainty.[23]
Angel Trains has participated in numerous initiatives to improve the efficiency and environmental credentials of the railways. In September 2018, plans were announced by Angel Trains to convert Class 165 diesel multiple units into hybrid diesel and battery-powered trains.[24] For this scheme, the original diesel-hydraulic drives were replaced by electric drives, the engines charge the batteries, making the drive effectively a hybridized diesel-electric drive; in February 2022, the first trainset was entered service with Chiltern Railways.[25] In February 2020, ScotRail and Angel Trains announced plans to convert a Class 314 EMU, equipping it with hydrogenfuel cells, as a technical demonstration of the feasibility of using hydrogen to fuel trains.[26][27] In July 2020, Riding Sunbeams formed a consortium that included Angel Trains to power electrified railway lines using 100 per cent renewable energy.[28][29][30] During November 2021, it was announced that Hitachi Rail and Angel Trains would trial the use of battery power on hybrid high speed trains in order to reduce fuel consumption.[31]
By June 2019, Angel Trains' inventory of rolling stock reportedly totalled 4,421 vehicles.[32]
Initial fleet
The fleet Angel Trains inherited from British Rail in 1994 comprised:[2]
The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest railway system in the world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail, which in 2017 had a network of 9,824 miles (15,811 km) of standard-gauge lines, of which 3,339 miles (5,374 km) were electrified. In addition, some cities have separate metro, light rail and tram systems, among them the historic London Underground and the Glasgow Subway. There are also many private railways, some of them narrow-gauge, which are primarily short lines for tourists. The main rail network is connected with that of continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1, opened in 1994 and 2007 respectively.
Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. The company was purchased by GEC Alsthom in May 1989; the Washwood Heath factory closed in 2005 and was demolished in early 2019.
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industry was in part motivated by the enactment of EU Directive 91/440 in 1991, which aimed to create a more efficient railway network by creating greater competition.
Porterbrook is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO), created as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Together with Angel Trains and Eversholt Rail Group, it is one of the three original ROSCOs.
The Class 168 Clubman is a British diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger train used on Chiltern Line services between London Marylebone and the West Midlands. The trains were built by Adtranz at the Derby Litchurch Lane Works in several batches from 1998.
Eversholt Rail Group is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Angel Trains and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs created as a result of the privatisation of British Rail.
A hybrid train is a locomotive, railcar or train that uses an onboard rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), placed between the power source and the traction transmission system connected to the wheels. Since most diesel locomotives are diesel-electric, they have all the components of a series hybrid transmission except the storage battery, making this a relatively simple prospect.
The Intercity Express Programme (IEP) was an initiative of the Department for Transport (DfT) in the United Kingdom to procure new trains to replace the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 fleets on the East Coast Main Line and Great Western Main Line. These new trains were designed and produced by Hitachi as part of their A-train family, classified as Class 800 electro-diesel units and Class 801 electric multiple units. Hitachi categorises the units as ta part of the AT300 family and has referred to them as the Hitachi Super Express Train.
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, was a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operated the TransPennine Express franchise. It ran regional and inter-city rail services between the major cities and towns of Northern England and Scotland.
The Old Dalby Test Track is a railway in the United Kingdom which is used for testing new designs of trains and railway infrastructure. It runs between Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire and Edwalton, on the course of the Midland Railway's route between Kettering and Nottingham which closed to passengers on 1 May 1967, and to goods in 1968. It is 13.5 miles (21.7 km) in length.
Ascendos Rail Leasing S.à r.l., formerly CBRail, was a European rolling stock leasing company based in Luxembourg. Its business activities were focused on Continental Europe, and had offices in Luxembourg, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Macquarie European Rail is a rolling stock company (ROSCO). It is presently owned by the French railway leasing entity Akiem.
Alpha Trains is a rolling stock leasing company operating in the European Union and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regions of mainland Europe.
Oxley Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot is a railway depot located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, operated by Alstom to maintain Avanti West Coast's British Rail Class 390 Pendolino stock for the West Coast Main Line.
The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail Valencia for Direct Rail Services (DRS) in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from the Stadler Eurolight, and Stadler's product name for this variant is the UKLight.
Beacon Rail is a rolling stock company (ROSCO) based in the United Kingdom. Its primary business is the leasing of locomotives and rolling stock to various train operating companies (TOCs).
The British Rail Class 802 is a type of high-speed bi-mode multiple-unit passenger train designed and produced by the Japanese manufacturer Hitachi Rail. It has been operated by Great Western Railway, TransPennine Express, and Hull Trains; each of these train operating companies has given its own units a unique brand: Great Western Railway's units are branded Intercity Express Trains (IETs), TransPennine Express units are branded Nova 1s and Hull Trains' units are branded Paragons.
The FV-E991 series (FV-E991系), nicknamed HYBARI, is a hydrogen fuel cell electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company from 2022.
The British Rail Class 18 is a class of hybrid locomotives designed and built by the British railway locomotive manufacturer Clayton Equipment Company in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. It has also been referred to as the CBD90 Hybrid+ by Clayton and private railway customers.
Rock Rail is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). It was established by Rock Infrastructure in 2014, and was structured as a subsidiary of the firm during July 2016.
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