Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Why everything about our privatised railways is a total rip-off
What are rolling stock companies? What is Porterbrook? And why is our cash being sucked out of what should be a public service? SOLOMON HUGHES explains all
Trains sit on the tracks at Norwich railway station as memebrs of the TSSA union go on strike

IF YOU want an illustration of how the British economy transports cash out of public services and into the hands of investors while short-changing the public, have a look at Porterbrook.

It is one of the most important firms in the privatised rail industry, but is barely mentioned on the news. 

Rail staff are going on strike to stop their pay being cut, but the latest accounts show Porterbrook’s boss got a 36 per cent pay rise, taking their salary to £915,000 a year. Porterbrook shareholders got £80 million in dividends.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Google
Features / 3 October 2025
3 October 2025

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

TORY HIGH SOCIETY:  Sir John Ritblat
Features / 19 September 2025
19 September 2025

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he hosts a VJ Day commemorative reception in the garden of 10 Downing Street, London, August 14, 2025
Features / 5 September 2025
5 September 2025

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of  Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

Defence Secretary John Healey (third left) and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu (second left) view a long-range air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missile, during a visit to MDBA in Hertfordshire, July 9, 2025
Features / 22 August 2025
22 August 2025

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES

Similar stories
A piper walks the platform alongside the Avanti West Coast Class 390 EMU train as it arrives at Glasgow Central Station from London Euston, failing to break the 36-year-old record for the fastest train journey between London and Glasgow, June 17, 2021
Railways / 8 May 2025
8 May 2025

Our groundbreaking report reveals how private rail companies are bleeding millions from public coffers through exploitative leasing practices — but we have the solutions, writes Aslef Scottish organiser KEVIN LINDSAY