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Is there no end to it? Could be more expensive than when owned by the people.
THE three banks that own nearly all of Britain's trains are facing a competition inquiry over allegations that they are making excessive profits from leasing carriages that are up to 70 years old...
Ministers believe that they are overcharging by up to £100 million a year for more than 7,000 carriages built by British Rail before the railways were privatised a decade ago.
In many cases, the construction costs have been repaid several times over, but the banks continue to charge more than £1,000 a week per carriage...
The companies are Angel, owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Porterbrook, owned by Abbey, and HSBC Rail.
They charge the train operators more than £1 billion a year to lease the trains and make a combined profit of at least £165 million.
South West Trains pays more than £150,000 a year to rent 12 carriages built in 1938 and used on the Island Line on the Isle of Wight.
The high leasing costs are one of the reasons why the eight-mile line is the most heavily subsidised in the country, costing the taxpayer 77p for each mile travelled by every passenger.
Is there no end to it? Could be more expensive than when owned by the people.