TAKING STOCK

Train owners pillaging industry with £1.5bn payouts, says union

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

FIRMS that own Britain's trains have been accused of leeching on taxpayers after dishing out £1.5billion of dividends since 2017.

Rolling stock companies were created by the Conservatives' controversial privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s.

They own the coaches, locomotives and freight wagons used on the railways, which they lease to operators.

Analysis shows more than a fifth of everything operators have spent since 2017 - upwards of £22bn - has gone to those leasing companies.

The Office for Rail and Road says these firms have, in turn, paid £1.5bn in dividends to shareholders during that time. Yet passengers have seen fares soar and the taxpayer has pumped billions into supporting the railways.

Labour recently pledged to re-nationalise the railways if it came back into power.