Rail rolling stock leasing company Beacon Rail Leasing, a portfolio company of Pamplona Capital, is to purchase 13 sets of five-car intercity carriages which will be leased to TransPennine Express Limited (TPE), a FirstGroup plc company.
The carriages will be manufactured by Spanish manufacturer, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (“CAF”) and are currently scheduled to be placed into service in 2018. Beacon’s Class 68 diesel locomotives, which are leased to Direct Rail Services (DRS), will initially haul the carriages between Liverpool and Newcastle and will be sub-leased from DRS to TPE.
Beacon owns a diverse portfolio of freight and passenger train rolling stock and leases these assets to operating companies in the UK and Continental Europe. It owns and manages a modern fleet of 190 locomotives, 944 freight wagons and 20 passenger train units. Beacon’s customers include many of the top freight operators in the UK and leading locomotive and rolling stock operators throughout Europe and Scandinavia.
Ted Gaffney, Chief Executive Officer of Beacon, says: “Beacon is very pleased to provide a locomotive hauled coach solution to TransPennine Express. This transaction is in line with our strategy, growth ambitions, and our commitment to providing state of the art rolling stock to the UK market.”
TPE’s Managing Director, Leo Goodwin, says: “This is great news for our customers and we are delighted to have concluded the deals that will bring much needed and much wanted extra carriages across our network.
“This will enable us to transform the customer experience over the life of our franchise and our three new train fleets will form a key part of this improvement.”
“Whether travelling to work, for business or leisure, our services are going to offer more seats, improved connectivity and a higher standard of comfort. The on-board experience will be second to none and we will provide customers with a real alternative to the car and congested road network.”
