Beacon Rail
| Predecessor | Allco Finance Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 2009 |
| Founder | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group |
| Headquarters | , England |
Area served | Europe United Kingdom |
| Products | Rolling stock leasing |
| Parent | JPMorgan Chase |
| Website | www.beaconrail.com |
Beacon Rail is a rolling stock company owned by JPMorgan Chase.
History
In May 2008, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group purchased Allco Finance Group's European rolling stock leasing business.[1][2][3] In January 2009 it was rebranded Beacon Rail. Its initial fleet comprised 15 class 66s leased to Fastline and Freightliner, 12 Bombardier Traxxs and 15 coal wagons.[4][5]
In 2009, Beacon Rail purchased HSBC Rail's European business with 20 EMD JT42CWR locomotives.[6] In 2012 it purchased its first passenger stock with twenty Class 313s on lease to Southern acquired from Eversholt Rail Group.[7] In 2014, the business was sold to Pamplona Capital Management.[8][9] In 2016 Ascendos Rail Leasing was purchased.[10][11]
In 2017, Beacon Rail was purchased by JPMorgan Chase. By this stage its portfolio included 190 locomotives, 944 freight wagons and 20 passenger trains.[12][13] Shortly after, 352 Class 220 and 221 carriages were purchased from subsidiaries of Lloyds Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.[14][15] In 2018, 67 locomotives were purchased from Colas Rail.[16][17]
References
- ^ BTMU buys Allco Finance Rail issue 592 21 May 2008 page 65
- ^ Allco taken over Today's Railways Europe issue 150 June 2008 page 12
- ^ Leasing firm sells European arm Railway Gazette International June 2008 page 356
- ^ New leasing company launched International Railway Journal February 2009 page 7
- ^ Beacon Rail launched Today's Railways Europe issue 159 March 2009 page 7
- ^ HSBC Rail pulls out of Europe Today's Railways Europe issue 161 May 2009 page 10
- ^ Second Generation EMUs and Electrostar Update Modern Locomotives Illustrated issue 233 October 2018 page 16
- ^ New owner for Beacon Rail Rail issue 748 14 May 2014 page 12
- ^ Pamplona buys Beacon Rail Railway Gazette International June 2014 page 22
- ^ Beacon buys Ascendos The Railway Magazine issue 1383 June 2016 page 96
- ^ Ascendos sold to Beacon Today's Railways Europe issue 247 July 2016 page 7
- ^ Pomplona sells Beacon Rail Leasing to JP Morgan International Railway Journal May 2017 page 16
- ^ JP Morgan buys Beacon Modern Railways issue 825 June 2017 page 88
- ^ Beacon Rail buys Voyager DEMU fleet Railway Gazette International 24 July 2017
- ^ Beacon Rail acquires Voyager fleet Today's Railways UK issue 189 September 2017 page 71
- ^ Beacon Rail buys Colas fleet Railway Gazette International 20 December 2018
- ^ Colas sells locos to Beacon Rail Rail Express issue 273 February 2019 page 9
