ON JULY 14 British rolling stock lessor Angel Trains, now owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, announced it was forming a European subsidiary in co-operation with German equipment supplier Vossloh AG. Trading as Locomotion Partners, the new venture will be formed as two companies. London-based Locomotion Capital, 90% owned by Angel, will procure and lease locos, and carry all residual value risk. Locomotion Service GmbH, owned 90% by Vossloh Schienenfahrzeugtechnik of Kiel, will be responsible for maintaining the fleet, which may include locos not built by VSFT. Locomotion Capital is currently negotiating a deal for an initial batch of 12 locos, and expects to have a fleet of 30 by the end of this year.
- Alstom Transport announced on July 11 that it had reached agreement for Dresdner Kleinwort Benson to fund a speculative batch of 200 Juniper EMU cars to replace former BR Mk I stock (p470). To be ready for leasing by the second half of 2001, they could be followed by up to 1300 more vehicles.
