UK train leasing bosses paid £3.5m combined last year as firms returned £400m to shareholders

The chief executives of three companies that lease rolling stock to Britain's rail operators received a combined £3.5m in pay last year, according to figures reported by the Guardian. The same three firms paid out close to £400m to their shareholders in dividends over the same period.

Rolling stock companies, often referred to as ROSCOs, own the trains used across the UK rail network and lease them to train operating companies, which in turn run passenger services. The arrangement has drawn criticism from campaigners who argue that leasing costs are ultimately passed on through fares and public subsidy.

Critics cited in the report accused the firms of profiting at the expense of passengers, pointing to the scale of executive pay and shareholder dividends at a time when fares and the cost of maintaining the railway have both been under scrutiny.

The disclosure adds to a long-running debate in the UK over the structure of the privatised rail industry, including the role played by companies that own and lease trains rather than operate services directly. The rolling stock leasing model has existed since rail privatisation in the 1990s and has periodically faced calls for reform from politicians and unions.

No response from the rolling stock companies named in the report was included in the available material.