Angel Trains
 | |
| Predecessor | British Rail |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 1994[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Products | Rolling stock leasing |
| Parent | AMP Capital Investors (55%) PSP Investments (30%) International Public Partnerships (5%) |
| Website | www.angeltrains.co.uk |
Angel Trains is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO) established in April 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Together with Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs.
History
Angel Trains was established in April 1994 as a subsidiary of British Rail in preparation for the privatisation of British Rail.[1] It was named Angel Trains after the London suburb in which British Rail's offices were located.[2] In November 1995 it was sold to a consortium of Nomura Holdings (85%), Babcock & Brown (10%) and former InterCity manager John Prideaux (5%).[3][4][5]
In December 1997, Angel Trains was purchased by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.[6][7][8]
The company expanded its leasing business, especially in Europe. A joint venture with Vossloh formed another leasing company Locomotion Capital in 2000. Additionally, through investment in its international branches Angel Trains Cargo (leasing freight rolling stock) and Angel Trains Europa (leasing passenger rolling stock) it became one of the largest rolling stock leasing companies in Europe - specifically in terms of freight locomotives.
In June 2008, Angel Trains was sold to a consortium of Babcock & Brown, AMP Capital, Arcus European Infrastructure Fund and Deutsche Bank.[9][10]
As part of the takeover, the international operations were split out into Angel Trains International that in January 2010, was renamed Alpha Trains.[11][12][13] In 2015 AMP Capital Investors and PSP Investments increased their shareholdings to 55% and 30% after purchasing the stock owned by Arcus European Infrastructure Fund.[14][15]
As at June 2019, Angel Trains owned 4,421 vehicles.[16]
Initial fleet
The fleet Angel Trains inherited from British Rail in 1994 comprised:[1]
| Class | Number of carriages |
|---|---|
| First generation | 137 |
| 43 | 115 |
| 142 | 190 |
| 150 | 146 |
| 153 | 30 |
| 156 | 124 |
| 165 | 180 |
| 166 | 63 |
| 303 | 144 |
| 305 | 75 |
| 308 | 63 |
| 312 | 180 |
| 314 | 48 |
| 317 | 288 |
| 421 | 332 |
| 423 | 264 |
| 442 | 120 |
| 465 | 200 |
| 507 | 96 |
| 508 | 93 |
| Mark 3 coaches | 416 |
References
- ^ a b c 25 Years of ROSCOs Rail Express issue 281 October 2019 pages 18/19
- ^ Why Angel Trains? Today's Railways UK issue 113 May 2005 page 25
- ^ ROSCOs sold for £1,699.5m Rail Privatisation News issue 18 16 November 1995 page 16
- ^ BR's passenger trains fleet sold-off for £1.8 billion Rail issue 266 22 November 1995 page 6
- ^ Nomura's Angel looks for train merger The Independent 14 September 1996
- ^ Ex-InterCity chief makes pounds 15m from Angel Trains sale The Independent 18 December 1997
- ^ RBS buys Angel Trains for £395m Rail Privatisation News issue 69 8 January 1998 page 1
- ^ Royal Bank Buys Angel Train Contracts Today's Railways UK issue 26 February 1998 page 8
- ^ Angel Trains sold to Australian-led consortium for £3.6 billion International Railway Journal July 2008 page 4
- ^ Babcock & Brown buys Angel Trains for £3.6bn Rail issue 595 2 July 2008 page 20
- ^ New names Railway Gazette International February 2010 page 20
- ^ 2010 brings company rebranding Today's Railways Europe issue 171 March 2010 page 7
- ^ Name changes for rolling stock leasing companies The Railway Magazine issue 1307 March 2010 page 8
- ^ AMP Capital takes majority stake in Angel Trains Railway Gazette International 19 August 2015
- ^ Arcus sells Angel Trains stake International Railway Journal October 2015 page 17
- ^ Investor report for year ended 30 June 2019 Angel Trains