Alpha Trains

Last updated
Alpha Trains
Industry Rolling stock leasing
Predecessor Angel Trains
FoundedAugust 2008
Headquarters
Luxembourg City
,
Luxembourg
Area served
Europe
Owner Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (41%)
Arcus Infrastructure Partners
PGGM
Swiss Life Asset Managers
Website www.alphatrains.eu

Alpha Trains is a rolling stock leasing company operating in the European Union and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regions of mainland Europe.

Contents

It was created as Angel Trains International as a spin-off from the British rolling stock leaser Angel Trains in August 2008; as such, its former continental European assets were reallocated to this newly-created entity. In January 2010, the Alpha Trains branding was adopted by the company. Through the 2010s, the company expanded its presence with a series of acquisitions, buying up rolling stock of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Société Générale. New-build locomotives and multiple units were also bought in from manufacturers such as Stadler Rail and Alstom, while existing assets were subject to retrofits to improve their capabilities.

Between 2019 and 2021, the ownership of Alpha Trains underwent a series of changes; while the Arcus European Infrastructure Fund and AMP Capital sold their shares to APG, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board also sold its stake to PGGM Infrastructure Fund. By December 2019, Alpha Trains' portfolio consisted of 363 locomotives and 432 trainsets.

History

The origins of Alpha Trains can be traced back to the British rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains, which was formed in March 1994 as a subsidiary of British Rail in preparation for the privatisation of British Rail during the 1990s. [1] The company developed a sizable portfolio of rolling stock in both the British and continental European markets. In June 2008, Angel Trains was acquired by a consortium of Babcock & Brown, AMP Capital, Arcus European Infrastructure Fund and Deutsche Bank at a reported cost of £3.6 billion. [2] [3]

The 2008 takeover promptly led to a major restructuring of the business' activities. It was under this initiative that all of its international operations and inventory were split out into the newly-created subsidiary Angel Trains International. [4] During January 2010, the entity was rebranded, adopting the Alpha Trains name. [5] [6] [7]

Throughout the 2010s, Alpha Trains expanded its presence in the European market, making several large acquisitions towards this goal. In January 2014, it was announced that it had agreed to acquire 137 locomotives and 65 multiple units from the British banking group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The deal reportedly increased Alpha Trains' portfolio to cover roughly 370 locomotives and 300 multiple units. [8] During April 2016, the firm acquired 89 Alstom-built regional multiple units from subsidiaries of the French financial services firm Société Générale; this reportedly increased Alpha Train's passenger-orientated inventory by 25 percent, totalling 436 assets at the time. [9]

In January 2017, Alpha Trains arranged a green private refinancing deal on accumulated debt from the acquisition of environmentally-friendly electric trains; this move was described as a world first for this type of company. [10] In June 2018, it was announced that the launch customers for the Stadler Euro Dual electro-diesel locomotive were the French freight operator VFLI and Alpha Trains; at the time, a total of 30 of the preceding Stadler Euro series of locomotive were in Alpha Trains' inventory, being leased to Spanish and Portuguese rail freight operators. [11]

During December 2019, the Dutch pension fund APG acquired a 41% shareholding in Alpha Trains from the Arcus European Infrastructure Fund. [12] In January 2021, it was announced that AMP Capital had agreed to sell its stake in the firm to APG, while the Canadian Crown Corporation Public Sector Pension Investment Board was also selling its large stake in Alpha Trains to the Dutch pension administrator PGGM Infrastructure Fund; both had been long-term shareholders in the company since its 2008 establishment. [13]

In May 2021, Alpha Trains confirmed a retrofit programme involving 77 locomotives, comprising 55 Bombardier Traxx 186 locomotives, along with eight Vossloh-G1206- and 14 Vossloh-G2000 locomotives; Alstom will upgrade them for compatibility with the European Train Control System Level 2 Baseline 3 Release 2, enabling their used under modern signalling. [14] In May 2022, it was announced that Alpha Trains had signed an eight-year maintenance contract with Alstom for the latter to provide locomotive maintenance for 70 of the former's locomotives, based in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany. [15] That same month, the firm launched its new AlphaNow customer portal, allowing operators to book individual locomotives via a live and transparent website. [16]

Assets

As of December 2019, Alpha Trains owned 363 locomotives and 432 trainsets that were leased to operators in 17 European countries. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alstom</span> French rolling stock manufacturer

Alstom is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional and urban trains along with trams.

Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Bombardier Transportation had many regional offices, production and development facilities worldwide. It produced a wide range of products including passenger rail vehicles, locomotives, bogies, propulsion and controls. In February 2020, the company had 36,000 employees, and 63 manufacturing and engineering locations around the world. Formerly a division of Bombardier Inc., the company was acquired by French manufacturer Alstom on 29 January 2021.

Vossloh AG is a rail technology company based in Werdohl in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The SDAX-listed group has achieved sales of around €930 million in 2016 and, as of 2017, had more than 4,000 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alstom Traxx</span> Family of locomotives manufactured by Alstom, originally by Bombardier

Alstom Traxx is a modular product platform of mainline diesel-electric and electric locomotives produced originally by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom, which was built in both freight and passenger variants. The first version was a dual-voltage AC locomotive built for German railways from the year 2000. Later types included DC versions, as well as quadruple-voltage machines, able to operate on most European electrification schemes: 1.5/3.0 kV DC and 15/25 kV AC. The family was expanded in 2006 to include diesel-powered versions. Elements common to all variants include steel bodyshells, two bogies with two powered axles each, three-phase asynchronous induction motors, cooling exhausts on the roof edges, and wheel disc brakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angel Trains</span> British rolling stock company

Angel Trains is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadler Rail</span> Swiss rolling stock manufacturer

Stadler Rail is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams. It is also focused on niche products, such as being one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock. Stadler Rail is headquartered in Bussnang, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DB Cargo France</span> French rail freight operator

DB Cargo France is a French rail freight operator. It is presently a subsidiary of the German state-owned logistics company DB Cargo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transmashholding</span> Russian rolling stock manufacturer

CJSC Transmashholding is the largest manufacturer of locomotives and rail equipment in Russia and after merging with LocoTech service the fourth largest engineering company in the field of transport technology globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadler Euro</span> Diesel-electric locomotive class

The Stadler Euro is a class of diesel-electric locomotives built by Stadler Rail for the European market. It is available in two basic variants, the four-axle Euro 3000, and the six-axle Euro 4000. These locomotives are powered by EMD 710 prime movers. A six-axle electric-only variant is marketed as Euro 6000; it is also built for the Iberian gauge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitsui Rail Capital</span>

Mitsui Rail Capital (MRC) is a railways rolling stock leasing company and part of Mitsui & Co based in Japan. Its main activities are the purchase and rental of railway freight cars and locomotives. In 2023, North American Mitsui Rail Capital was sold and rebranded as Modern Rail Capital.

Ascendos Rail Leasing S.à r.l., formerly CBRail, was a European rolling stock leasing company based in Luxembourg. Its business activities were focused on Continental Europe, and had offices in Luxembourg, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Stadler Rail Valencia SAU is a Spanish company, mainly producing products for the railway industry, subsidiary of Stadler Rail.

Macquarie European Rail is a rolling stock company (ROSCO). It is presently owned by the French railway leasing entity Akiem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railpool</span>

Railpool is a European rolling stock leasing company based in Munich, Germany. It provides rolling stock financing and leasing, along with maintenance, consultancy, and other services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadler Eurolight</span> Diesel-electric locomotive

The Stadler Eurolight is the brand name for a family of 4-axle Bo'Bo' mainline diesel-electric locomotives with sub-20-tonne axleloads for passenger and freight trains produced by Stadler Rail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Rail Class 68</span> British Diesel-electric locomotive

The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail for Direct Rail Services (DRS) in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from the Stadler Eurolight, and Stadler's product name for this variant is the UKLight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadler Euro Dual</span> Electro-diesel locomotive

The Stadler Euro Dual is a series of dual power, electro-diesel locomotive by Stadler Rail Valencia. Unlike traditional dual mode locomotives, fitted with relatively low-powered diesel engines for 'last mile' movements only, vehicles are typically furnished with power units more comparable to that of mainline diesel locomotives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beacon Rail</span>

Beacon Rail is a rolling stock company (ROSCO) based in the United Kingdom. Its primary business is the leasing of locomotives and rolling stock to various train operating companies (TOCs).

Rock Rail is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). It was established by Rock Infrastructure in 2014, and was structured as a subsidiary of the firm during July 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "25 Years of ROSCOs". Rail Express . No. 281. October 2019. pp. 18–21.
  2. ↑ "Angel Trains sold to Australian-led consortium for £3.6 billion". International Railway Journal. July 2008: 4.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ↑ "Babcock & Brown buys Angel Trains for £3.6bn". Rail Magazine . No. 595. 2 July 2008. p. 20.
  4. ↑ "Angel Trains split in two". Rail Magazine . No. 598. 13 August 2008. p. 13.
  5. ↑ "New names". Railway Gazette International . No. February 2010. p. 20.
  6. ↑ "2010 brings company rebranding". Today's Railways Europe . No. 171. March 2010. p. 7.
  7. ↑ "Name changes for rolling stock leasing companies". The Railway Magazine . No. 1307. March 2010. p. 8.
  8. ↑ Barrow, Keith (9 January 2014). "Alpha Trains acquires rolling stock from RBS". railjournal.com.
  9. ↑ Barrow, Keith (6 April 2016). "Alpha Trains acquires 89 German regional trains". railjournal.com.
  10. ↑ Barrow, Keith (17 January 2017). "Green private placement finances new electric trains". railjournal.com.
  11. ↑ Burroughs, David (7 June 2018). "Stadler wins first order for new-generation locomotives". railjournal.com.
  12. 1 2 "Pension investor takes stake in Alpha Trains". Railway Gazette International. 7 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020.
  13. ↑ Vosman, Quintus (20 January 2021). "Alpha Trains attracts investment from PGGM Infrastructure Fund and APG". railjournal.com.
  14. ↑ Barrow, Keith (9 May 2021). "Alpha Trains retrofits 77 locomotives with ETCS". railjournal.com.
  15. ↑ Burroughs, David (8 May 2022). "Alstom to maintain Alpha Trains locomotives in Benelux and Germany". railjournal.com.
  16. ↑ "Never Has Locomotive Lease Been So Easy. Alpha Trains Launches New AlphaNOW Customer Portal". railtarget.eu. 4 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "Passenger trains". Alpha Trains. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "Locomotives". Alpha Trains. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  19. ↑ "Angel Trains Purchases 60 Bombardier Traxx Locomotives For Operation In Continental Europe". Alpha Trains. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.