{
  "id": 11482730,
  "title": "Bosses of three firms that supply trains to UK railways made £3.5m last year",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/bosses-of-three-firms-that-supply-trains-to-uk-railways-made-3-5m",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-02T15:54:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Business",
    "slug": "guardian-business",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/oct/02/bosses-firms-trains-uk-35m-pounds-last-year"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Three train leasing firms in the UK amassed a combined £3.5m in salaries for their CEOs last year, while passing on nearly £400m to shareholders through dividends. Rail unions criticized the firms, known as Roscos, for profiting at the expense of passengers. The figures surfaced in accounts published following the government's announcement of a new rolling stock strategy for Britain's railways. Ministers are now considering whether to take direct ownership of trains via the public body Great British Railways instead of leasing them from private companies. Porterbrook Holdings, one of the firms, paid £80m in dividends and increased its CEO's pay by over 10% to £1.44m. Eversholt Rail also paid out £200m in dividends just before being sold to Beacon Rail, with the departing CEO earning £1.33m. Angel Trains paid £111m in dividends and gave its CEO a modest £700,000. The RMT union called for a levy on Roscos' profits, highlighting that the three largest Roscos paid £2.4bn in dividends over the past decade. The RMT's general secretary, Eddie Dempsey, urged the government to introduce a 'cost of travel' levy during the budget to provide a 3.4% fare cut. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander stated that if Great British Railways taking over trains would best serve taxpayers and passengers, then the government should proceed with the plan. The rail regulator revealed operators spent over £4bn leasing trains from Roscos in the past year, with the firms generating an 18.5% net profit margin. Porterbrook claimed it had invested over £1bn in new trains and infrastructure since 2020, while Angel Trains and Eversholt emphasized their focus on securing the best outcomes for passengers and attracting future investment.",
  "summary": "Rolling stock companies, which also paid out nearly £400m to shareholders, accused of profiting at passengers’ expense The chief executives of three firms that rent out trains to Britain’s railways were paid a combined £3.5m last year as they passed on almost £400m to shareholders in dividends. Rail unions accused the rolling stock companies (Roscos) of raking in profits at passengers’ expense.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}