Porterbrook has acquired Corelink Rail Infrastructure Limited (CRIL), the rolling stock company whose 404 vehicles underpin around 60% of West Midlands Trains' operations, law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has confirmed after advising on the transaction.

The deal transfers ownership of a fleet comprising 324 Alstom Class 730 Aventra electric multiple unit vehicles and 80 CAF Class 196 diesel multiple unit vehicles. Sellers were infrastructure investor Infracapital and asset manager DWS Group. Stephenson Harwood announced its advisory role on 30 January 2026. The firm described the sale as a landmark transaction in the modernisation of the UK's regional and commuter rail services.

For Porterbrook, one of the UK's leading rolling stock companies, the acquisition consolidates its position in the West Midlands regional market. The Class 730 Aventra fleet, manufactured by Alstom, operates electric commuter and regional services, while the CAF-built Class 196 units run on non-electrified routes in the region. Together the two fleets account for roughly three-fifths of the rolling stock deployed on the West Midlands Trains network.

The scale of the asset base required extensive legal preparation before the sale could complete. The Stephenson Harwood team prepared the comprehensive legal due diligence report underpinning the sale process. That work covered a detailed review of all key project and finance documents, manufacture and supply agreements, operating leases, maintenance arrangements, and complex financing structures.

Partner Richard Hughes led the Stephenson Harwood team from London. Partner Daniel Andrews, Managing Associate Geon Sik Kang, and Associates Lachlan Mack and Sonali Shah supported him.

The firm said its team's expertise and collaborative approach were instrumental in delivering a successful outcome and reinforced its position as a market leader in UK rail finance. Stephenson Harwood's rail practice spans transportation and trade, rail and road, and rail and bus infrastructure work, and the firm was recognised at the IJ Global Infra Global Awards 2025 for its transportation practice.

The transaction gives the UK's privately owned rolling stock market a further concentration of leased regional fleet under one of the big three ROSCOs. For West Midlands Trains, the operator of the network, the change of lessor leaves the composition of its deployed fleet unchanged in the near term: the same Class 730 and Class 196 vehicles continue in service under their existing maintenance and leasing arrangements.

The exit closes the investment cycle for Infracapital and DWS Group, which built CRIL as a dedicated vehicle to own and lease the fleets serving the West Midlands franchise. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed by the parties.

Stephenson Harwood noted that the transaction marks a significant milestone in the modernisation of the UK's regional and commuter rail services, and the firm expects further restructuring of rolling stock ownership as the UK industry prepares for the establishment of Great British Railways and a more integrated railway, a topic the firm has addressed in its rail and road practice insights.