At the heart of Britain’s railway for over 25 years, we provide high-quality, digitally-enabled rolling stock to help deliver a safe, reliable and sustainable railway.
We own almost a third of the national passenger train fleet. Our rolling stock supports around 1.5m passenger journeys and travels over a million miles a day when the railway operates at full capacity.
We currently have over 4,000 vehicles on lease or on order. Since privatisation, we have invested £3bn in 2,500 new passenger and freight vehicles, and we are looking to invest a further £1bn in UK rail over coming years.
We see our role as being innovative asset managers as well as financiers. We are long term players in the UK rail sector – our rolling stock assets have an expected service life of 30-35 years. Making full use of a train’s asset life, supported by periodic refurbishments to the latest standards, optimises value to passengers and taxpayers whilst minimizing impact on the environment.
Innovation is at the heart of our whole life asset management approach. In collaboration with our customers and suppliers, we are constantly looking ahead to anticipate future needs and help government and industry meet demanding air-quality and decarbonisation targets.
We have a reputation for developing and delivering a range of enhancements to existing trains that address these challenges. These include battery and hybrid powered rolling stock, as well as fitment of exhaust after-treatment technology to older fleets. Porterbrook has also introduced the UK’s first hydrogen powered train, HydroFLEX, in partnership with the University of Birmingham.
We are committed to supporting and developing the UK rail supply chain. Every week we invest £3m to maintain and upgrade our existing fleets, supporting circa 7,000 jobs spread across over 100 companies.
Our business is not just about managing trains, it’s about our people. Almost three quarters of our workforce are specialist engineers and rolling stock managers. We understand our assets. In partnership with our supply chain and customers our mission is to provide high-quality, digitally enabled rolling stock that helps deliver a safe, reliable and sustainable railway.
Safety, reliability and sustainability are at the heart of what we do and innovative digital technology supports all three.
