The chief executives of Britain's three big rolling stock companies received a combined £3.5m last year while their firms distributed almost £400m to shareholders, according to accounts published this week.

Porterbrook Holdings paid £80m in dividends and raised chief executive Mary Grant's pay by more than 10% to £1.44m. Eversholt Rail paid out £200m in 2025, shortly before CK Hutchison sold the company to Beacon Rail; its departing CEO, Mary Kenny, received £1.33m. Angel Trains paid £111m in dividends and £700,000 to its chief executive, Malcolm Brown.

The figures landed days after ministers announced a new rolling stock strategy for Britain's railways. The government is considering direct ownership of trains through the public body Great British Railways rather than leasing them from private rolling stock companies, known as Roscos. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander told the Labour party conference on Monday that if GBR owning trains would best serve taxpayers and passengers, "then we should do it".

According to the rail regulator, train operators spent more than £4bn last year leasing trains from the Roscos, whose net profit margin stood at 18.5%. The RMT union said the three biggest Roscos have paid out £2.4bn in dividends over the last decade, and it accuses the firms of profiting at passengers' expense.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey called for immediate fiscal action rather than structural reform alone. "The government's commitment to explore publicly owned rolling stock for the new trains in the future is welcome but in a cost of living crisis we need action now," he said. "We are calling on the government to use this month's budget to introduce a 'cost of travel' levy on profits to fund a 3.4% fare cut, rather than watching the cash being salted away."

The Rosco executives' remuneration exceeds the highest salaries elsewhere on the railway, including the heads of Network Rail and HS2.

Porterbrook defended its record. A spokesperson said the company had "deployed over £1bn of capital in new trains, fleet upgrades, traction innovation and rail infrastructure since 2020, and we are actively looking to invest a further £1bn in the years ahead". The spokesperson added that the group's companies are UK tax resident and have paid £82m in tax over the past three years, saying: "It is because of the funding that our shareholders provide that we can make substantial investments in the railway."

Angel Trains, which is incorporated in Jersey and within the reach of UK taxes, struck a similar tone on future fleet policy. A spokesperson said: "We believe decisions on future fleets should be focused on securing the best outcomes for passengers, while maintaining the conditions and opportunities needed to attract future investment into the railway. We look forward to continuing to work constructively with government and Great British Railways."

Eversholt and its new owner, Beacon Rail, were approached for comment.

The disclosures sharpen the political choice now before the government: keep channelling more than £4bn a year in lease payments to private shareholders, or move fleet ownership into Great British Railways as ministers draft the terms of the new rolling stock strategy.