Angel Trains

Angel Trains

Predecessor	British Rail
Founded	March 1994
Headquarters	London , England[1]
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). Together with Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs.

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 hydrogen fuel 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.