More trains for TransPennine Express

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From First Group's News and Media section ....

http://www.firstgroupplc.com/news-and-media/latest-news/2016/23-05-16.aspx

TransPennine Express (TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express)), the intercity rail operator for the North and Scotland is delighted to today announce the purchase of a further 126 brand new carriages.

TPE will deliver an investment of more than ^230m in 25 brand new five-carriage trains which will be in service across the network by 2019.

[JayMac]

How much of the ^230 million comes from TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express), aka First Group?

These sort of announcements really annoy me. They give the impression to the general public that it is the train operator who is stumping up the money and making the investment in rolling stock.

Nonetheless, a welcome return to loco-hauled services across the Pennines. And a welcome further increase in capacity.

[Ollie]

BNM: Release states: Today^s agreement will see the introduction of two new fleets, which are 12 five-carriage Civity UK^▸ (United Kingdom) InterCity electric trains financed by Eversholt Rail and 13 sets of five-car InterCity carriages financed by Beacon Rail Leasing.

[grahame]

These sort of announcements really annoy me. They give the impression to the general public that it is the train operator who is stumping up the money and making the investment in rolling stock.

My error for selectively quoting - sorry ... see Ollie's further quote

I passed on this out-of-area news as it promises more stock for the pool, and for our current TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) (or its parent) to be the prime initial user.

[ChrisB]

No UK^▸ (United Kingdom) manufacturer took part in the competitive tender process.

Bit of a shame, that.

I wonder whether these coaches will be known as Mark VI coaching stock?

BNM - how did you know to refer to them as loco-hauled if you hadn't read the press release?

[JayMac]

BNM: Release states: Today^s agreement will see the introduction of two new fleets, which are 12 five-carriage Civity UK^▸ (United Kingdom) InterCity electric trains financed by Eversholt Rail and 13 sets of five-car InterCity carriages financed by Beacon Rail Leasing.

I did read the full press release before commenting. No blame to grahame for selectively quoting.

Release states:

TransPennine Express (TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express)), the intercity rail operator for the North and Scotland is delighted to today announce the purchase of a further 126 brand new carriages.

TPE will deliver an investment of more than ^230m in 25 brand new five-carriage trains which will be in service across the network by 2019.

That is in the first two paragraphs.

TPE are neither purchasing the rolling stock, nor "delivering the investment" in it.

Not untypical of First Group of course. Headline grabbing opening parts of press releases suggesting First Group are making investments, contradicted later in same release.

[Ollie]

I disagree, perhaps if it said, TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express) is proud to announce it is purchasing... but that opening headline doesn't say TPE are making the purchase, and if there should be doubt as to who is funding the build, it is clarified within the actual context of the article.

Although naturally, First Group/TPE will be spending money on these trains as they will need to pay to use them.

[JayMac]

I disagree

Thought you might. 

"TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express)... is delighted to today announce the purchase..." should have been immediately followed by ..."by Rolling Stock Companies (ROSCOs^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about)) Eversholt Rail and Beacon Rail Leasing." Not mentioned in passing a few paragraphs later.

The opening statement is then erroneously back up in the second paragraph with "TPE will deliver an investment of more than ^230m" They won't deliver anything of the sort.

These press releases (like GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s investment in 'Building a Greater West') are worded like this deliberately. To con the public into thinking that it is the train operator buying the trains, electrifying the lines, improving the stations...

Here's how it should be done:

Beacon Rail Leasing ("Beacon"), a leading Pan-European rolling stock lessor, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement 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^▸ (Direct Rail Services Ltd)"), 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^▸ (United Kingdom) 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.

Commenting on the transaction, Ted Gaffney, Chief Executive Officer of Beacon, said: "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 said: "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."

About Beacon Rail Leasing 

Beacon Rail Leasing is a rolling stock leasing company focused on serving the UK and continental European markets. Beacon Rail Leasing has an industry leading management team with rail asset management expertise and capital markets experience, enabling it to meet the equipment needs of its Pan European customer base. 

Earlier this month, Beacon signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ascendos Rail Leasing S.^ r.l. ("Ascendos"), a European locomotive and rolling stock leasing company which is headquartered in Luxembourg, and has additional offices in London and Munich. Ascendos' current portfolio includes 35 locomotives and 100 freight wagons on lease in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, 35 passenger train units on lease in Germany, and 67 double decker coaches on lease in Denmark.

Please visit http://www.beaconrail.com for more information. Beacon Rail is a portfolio company of Pamplona Capital Management, a London and New York based specialist investment manager established in 2005 that provides an alternative investment platform across private equity, fund of hedge funds and single manager hedge fund investments. Please visit http://www.pamplonafunds.com for more information.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beacon-rail-to-supply-rolling-stock-to-transpennine-express-limited-580487021.html

[Ollie]

I disagree

Well, to be fair, I think it highly unlikely you'd agree with me that First Group are being disingenuous. You are employed by them after all.

This is purely me saying I disagree with your view on the release, nothing to do with who I work for. I've read it as someone who is somewhat interested in rail, not as someone who is a rail worker. My interpretation is different to yours, that is allowed as far as I know. No need to be concerning yourself with who I'm employed by.

[JayMac]

What happens when you put out a disingenuous press release is this:

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/transpennine-express-buys-126-new-11372060

TransPennine Express buys 126 new carriages

TransPennine Express (TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express)), which links Huddersfield with major cities including Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Hull, is spending ^230m on 25 brand new five-carriage trains which will be in service across the network by 2019.

Selective quoting on my part, but there's no mention of Eversholt or Beacon in that article for me to quote.

Of course, we can blame the journalists for poor research. I suspect though the journalist in question will blame the press release for not being clear on where the money is coming from. And I also suspect that TPE and First Group will be delighted that the Huddersfield Examiner have got it wrong. Nice publicity even if incorrect. I doubt very much the TPE press officer will be ringing up to clarify.

No mention of Eversholt or Beacon in this one either:

http://www.in-cumbria.com/New-125mph-trains-will-cut-journey-times-to-Manchester-and-Liverpool-bdb22e36-5ca0-4df8-bbfe-fd3f094f8772-ds

RAIL company TransPennineExpresss is investing ^230m in 25 new five-carriage trains to enter service during 2018 and 2019.

Falsehood will fly, as it were, on the wings of the wind, and carry its tales to every corner of the earth; whilst truth lags behind 

[Richard Fairhurst]

I honestly don't think it matters much.

The ownership structures and funding mechanisms of any large publicly listed company are sufficiently byzantine these days that even perfect clarity doesn't actually tell you much.

Yes, the Beacon Rail release is accurate, but all it ultimately tells you is that some new trains are being funded by "a portfolio company of Pamplona Capital Management". That's pretty much equivalent to me saying "the Melton Mowbray Building Society is pleased to announce a deal on a property in central Charlbury" because we borrowed the money for our house from them. Except even that's flattery - your average reader is at least likely to understand what the Melton Mowbray Building Society might be, whereas Pamplona Capital Management might as well be the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation for all except a few people in the City.

In this case, it's FirstGroup who are taking the risk by committing to the increased lease payments; and, I suspect, CAF have also taken a risk by bidding, shall we say, "competitlvely" to fill their order book. If First have overbid, they will be in trouble meeting their premium payments. If CAF have underpriced, they too will be in trouble. I'm pretty sure Pamplona Capital Management will do nicely whatever happens... and so I can't begrudge First taking the credit.

(I recommend the MMBS. The service is genuinely personal, the rates are good, and most important of all, you can pop in for a Dickinson & Morris pork pie when negotiating your mortgage. We celebrated ours with an absolutely delicious Stilton-topped one.)

[jdw.wor]

I'm with BNM! I suspect it took longer to construct this press release, in a way that it is capable of being misunderstood, than Beacon took to compose their straightforward one. How far from a lie is it when people/organisations produce script which they know is very easy to misconstrue?

[John R]

BNM I think you are being far too pedantic in an attempt to find criticism.  And if you want to be pedantic then I think your argument falls downs on both counts. 

As has been noted, the opening line does not state that TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express) is purchasing the rolling stock.  Just announcing that the purchase is happening.  So no inaccuracy there. The second statement refers to delivery of an investment, not the making of an investment.  Parcelforce delivers a package to me, it doesn't make the contents. But it enables me to benefit from the contents, in the same way that TPE enables the public to benefit from the investment in new rolling stock. So delivery* is fine.

There is absolutely no doubt that TPE is the glue between many parties which has enabled this investment in rolling stock to take place. Instead of trying to find a reason to have a cheap jibe at them, I would have hoped that you would have welcomed this significant investment in the rail industry. From my perspective the best thing about this deal is the surprise and welcome return of hauled rolling stock, offering a flexibility and ability to scale up easily if passenger numbers exceed expectations that units don't have. 

* delivery  - to hand over  (Chambers English Dictionary):  thus TPE are handing over the investment, which seems reasonable.   

[broadgage]

Loco hauled new trains ? I thought that these were considered old fashioned and unsuitable (or perhaps too good) for todays railway.
So why cant we have loco hauled coaches in the South West instead of being downgraded to DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

[grahame]

Loco hauled new trains ? I thought that these were considered old fashioned and unsuitable (or perhaps too good) for todays railway.

Whilst the Beacon press release does say "Hauled", I would suspect they might be pulled (hauled) in one direction and pushed in the other; they're said to be for use on Liverpool - Newcastle, and whilst Newcastle can be accessed from either end and not require a run around, the same cannot be said for Lime Street High Level.