Future of RoSCos (Rolling Stock Companies)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Christian Wolmar on the new scene under GBR^▸ (Great British Railways):

The purpose of Roscos was to guarantee the long term future of trains under a short term franchise system. This will no longer apply.

[Rhydgaled]

The purpose of Roscos was to guarantee the long term future of trains under a short term franchise system. This will no longer apply.

My bold - really? Short-term franchises will I understand become short-term concessions, but reading the latest 'Modern Railways' there is a suggestion that the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) will still be responsible for train procurement. I doubt I'll be surprised if the new Passenger Service Contracts turn out to be very similar to the pre-COVID Franchise Contracts in terms of who does what, save for the fact that GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) will take the revenue risk (and perhaps specify livery).

[ChrisB]

My understanding is that the stations will all be run by GBR^▸ (Great British Railways)…who will also sell the tickets & set the fares. It’ll be very different

[Rhydgaled]

My understanding is that the stations will all be run by GBR^▸ (Great British Railways)…who will also sell the tickets & set the fares. It’ll be very different

The peice in Modern Railways casts doubt on that too (note that W-SP refers to the Williams-Shap Plan):

According to the W-SP, 'Dedicated station management teams will be created locally within regional divisions of Great British Railways to manage stations, land and assets'. Now, 'manage' covers a potential multitude of activities and I assumed it included staffing.

It then refers to the next item, which includes the following (PSCs are Passenger Service Contracts):

According to the Market Engagement Preview, a PSC's main responsibilities will be:

• operating trains to a high-level of operational performance;
• procuring, preparing and maintaining rolling stock;
• delivering high standards of customer experience on train and at station;
• acting as a train service operations partner to GBR as it develops and refines its passenger offer.

Bold added by me. Towards the end of that item, the author writes "I wonder what other heavyweight duties it " (a PSC) "will acquire as reality sets in?"

[Bob_Blakey]

The initial DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) press release concerning the creation of GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) indicated that the ROSCO^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about)'s would be retained. I have not seen any more recent announcements that this intention had changed.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994603/gbr-williams-shapps-plan-for-rail.pdf     Page 50

I thought at the time 'they cannot be serious!'

[eXPassenger]

From the viewpoint of the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) and the Treasury the ROSCOs^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about) have the advantage that they incur the capital cost of trains and GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) (DfF, or whoever) then have the operational cost of meeting the lease payments.  Without the ROSCOs the capital cost of the trains would fall on the Treasury.

[Electric train]

It is an absolute certainty that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railways will be a blend of State and private sector, GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) is not intended to be and never will be a BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)).  With stations if it makes sense for a concession / franchise / train service operator to manage and staff stations on a route and then that will happen, an example is TfL^» (Transport for London - about) Rail.

Network Rail as the infrastructure operator and maintainer is almost certainly going to change under GBR once NR^» (Network Rail - home page) has been dissolved and it has been transferred into GBR

There is a NR / RDG^‡(resolve) team currently working on the whole operating model of the UK railways under GBR,

[Lee]

GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) is not intended to be and never will be a BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)). 

Indeed - It is actually intended to be a new SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about), and will be as powerless in the face of, and as criminally underfunded by, the Treasury as that godforsaken organisation was.

Consequently it will be every bit as much of a failure.

[Electric train]

GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) is not intended to be and never will be a BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)). 

Indeed - It is actually intended to be a new SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about), and will be as powerless in the face of, and as criminally underfunded by, the Treasury as that godforsaken organisation was.

Consequently it will be every bit as much of a failure.

A UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Government reorganisation of the UK railways being a failure .............. surely not 

[Bob_Blakey]

.....Without the ROSCOs^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about) the capital cost of the trains would fall on the Treasury.

but over the lifespan of the equipment would, I think, be a significantly lower cost to the taxpayer.

[IndustryInsider]

Article which summarises the current state of play quite well:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-railway-bosses-leech-taxpayers-32765790?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

[grahame]

Article which summarises the current state of play quite well:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-railway-bosses-leech-taxpayers-32765790?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

Analysis shows more than a fifth of everything operators have spent since 2017 - more than £22billion - has gone to those leasing companies. The Office for Rail and Road (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)) says these companies have, in turn, paid £1.5billion in dividends during that time.

Yet passengers have seen fares soar and the taxpayers has pumped billions into supporting the railways. Labour recently pledged to renationalise the railways if it came to power.

But rolling stock companies are not part of its plans because of the huge cost of bringing them back into state ownership. According to the ORR, firms paid £413milliion in dividends last year alone, during which time profit margins trebled. Three big owners of passenger trains are Porterbrook, Angel Trains and Eversholt.

I am not defending the RoSCos, nor do I know how much their investment / capitalisation is, but 1.5 billion out of 22 billion is just under 7%.   Noting it says "profit margin has trebled" I would like to see annual stats.