3 Mar 2025
The government could freeze passenger fares at current levels if they take the train leasing companies (also known as Rolling Stock Companies) into public ownership, new research by We Own It suggests.
This finding comes as regulated passenger fares went up by an inflation-busting 4.6% on Sunday 2nd March.
We Own It’s research looked at the dividends paid out by the Rolling Stock Companies as a per cent of passenger fares for every year between 2013/14 and 2023/24.
The analysis shows that an average of 4.1% of passenger fares have gone toward dividends paid out by the Rolling Stock Companies every year for the last decade. With rail fares going up by 4.6% this year, this shows that the government could afford to freeze almost all of the fare increases if they invested those dividends back into the railway system.
The rolling stock companies have paid out £3.6 billion in total dividends since 2014/15.
|
Year |
Total dividends paid out by ROSCOs (£m) |
Total rail fares paid by passengers (£b) |
ROSCOs dividends as a per cent of passenger fares |
|
2014/15 |
265 |
3% |
|
|
2015/16 |
264 |
2.8% |
|
|
2016/17 |
273 |
2.8% |
|
|
2017/18 |
267 |
2.7% |
|
|
2018/19 |
226 |
2.1% |
|
|
2019/20 |
949 |
8.1% |
|
|
2020/21 |
122 |
4.8% |
|
|
2021/22 |
409 |
6.3% |
|
|
2022/23 |
542 |
5.9% |
|
|
2023/24 |
331 |
3% |
|
|
£3.6 billion |
£88.7 billion |
4.15% |
Johnbosco Nwogbo, Lead Campaigner at We Own It, said:
“Passengers will be understandably angry watching their rail fares rise by an inflation-busting 4.6% this March.
“With 4.1% of every ticket sold going straight into the pockets of train leasing companies’ shareholders - we know who the real beneficiary of this price hike is.
“The train leasing companies are laughing all the way to the bank - creaming off £410 million in profits in 2023. With much of the cash taken out and stashed in offshore tax havens, weakening the British economy.
“The Government is bringing the train operating companies into public ownership, it must do the same with the train leasing companies.
“The most effective way to run rail is as an integrated system - where the management of track, stations, trains and ticketing connects seamlessly. With the entire system under public ownership, all the profits can be reinvested in opening new routes and bringing down ticket prices.
“The Government talks about the need for growth. Every £1 invested in rail returns £2.50 to the wider economy. If Labour are serious about kickstarting the economy, they should start by taking back control of our railways and investing for the benefit of us all.”
Ellie Harrison, Founder of Bring Back British Rail, said:
“Ticket rises are never welcome and the Government must find ways to bring down fares and improve services.
“The Government is currently consulting on the future of rail. This is the perfect opportunity to reunify all elements of the system and ensure we have railways that are run in the interests of people and the planet, not private profit.
“Any review must look closely at the rolling stock companies (ROSCOs). These are companies, often based in tax havens, that own and lease the trains to the operating companies. Why not expand the remit of Great British Railways so they can own the trains they operate? This would stop huge profits leaking out of the system, meaning more money to bring down fares and improve services.”
Notes:
We Own It’s analysis of ROSCO dividends is drawn from a combination of the RMT’s research into company accounts and Leasing Life’s aggregation of Office of Rail and Road data.
- https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/publications/rmt-policy-briefing-rosco-profiteering061021/
- https://www.leasinglife.com/features/roscos-the-impact-of-rail-reform-on-leasing-companies/?cf-view
