Beacon Rail acquires Voyager DEMUs

BEACON Rail Leasing announced on July 21 that it has concluded the acquisition of the fleet of class 220 and 221 Voyager inter-city DEMUs operated by British franchises Virgin Trains West Coast and Cross Country Trains.

The fleet of 352 vehicles, which are formed into 78 four and five-car sets, was previously owned by subsidiaries of Lloyds Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The trains were built by Bombardier between 2000 and 2002 and the manufacturer maintains the fleet at its Central Rivers depot near Burton-upon-Trent.

“We are very pleased with this transaction because it continues our expansion in the British passenger train franchise market,” says Beacon Rail CEO Mr Neil Bennett. “The Bombardier Voyager trains have proven to be successful in service and this transaction has allowed us to acquire more high quality British passenger rolling stock.”

Law firm Stephenson Harwood advised Lloyds and RBS on the sale.