Beacon acquires 67 locomotives from Colas

Beacon Rail Leasing has bought 67 locomotives from Colas Rail, and will lease them back to the operator.

The locomotives are based in the UK and France. The UK locomotives involved are five Class 56s, five Class 66s (66846-66850), two Class 67s (67023/027) and seven Class 70s (70811-70817). The identity of the ‘56s’ are unknown, but a source told RAIL that those bought are the “best” ones.

“Acquiring this portfolio of diesel locomotives is in line with our strategy, growth ambitions, and our continued commitment to being the leader in this segment of the market,” said Beacon CEO Ted Gaffney.

The deal means Colas still owns four Class 56s and ten Class 70s (70801-70810) as well as seven Class 37s (37057/099, 37116/175, 37219/254, 37421).

It recently also sold three ‘37s’ to Europhoenix ( RAIL 869), while three Class 47/7s were sold to GB Railfreight at the end of 2017, followed by ten Class 60s in spring 2018 (these were subsequently also bought by Beacon).

Colas also hires 37025 Inverness TMD Quality Assured and 37521 from preservation, as well as 37607/610/612 from Harry Needle Railroad Company.

The company’s infrastructure monitoring deal with Network Rail expires in 2020. Already NR has awarded deals to rival freight companies for IM work, which is expected to reduce the amount of work for Colas ‘37s’.

Europhoenix also revealed it is interested in buying more of the locomotives if available.