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New RMT report reveals £1.8bn extracted by private business since 2016

3rd December 2025Leave a Commenton New RMT report reveals £1.8bn extracted by private business since 2016

“This is wealth extracted from the network into private shareholders’ pockets, instead of being reinvested to strengthen and modernise the railways.”

By the RMT

Private rail companies have quietly extracted £1.8 billion from the railway in dividends since 2016, new RMT analysis reveals.

The findings, published to mark the first anniversary of the Passenger Railways (Public Ownership) Act receiving Royal Assent, expose the sheer scale of cash leaving the system under privatisation.

The report shows more than £510 million was paid out during and after the pandemic, and £190.6 million in 2023/24 alone.

This is wealth extracted from the network into private shareholders’ pockets, instead of being reinvested to strengthen and modernise the railways.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Nearly £2bn has been taken out of the railway to line the pockets of shareholders and private company bosses.

“Even during the pandemic, when operators were entirely reliant on public funding, dividends kept flowing out of the industry and often leaving the country altogether.

“The Public Ownership Act is a major step forward, and we need Great British Rail as soon as possible to bring track and train together to ensure every penny is reinvested in a railway run for the interests of rail workers and passengers.”

Key findings from the report include:

• FirstGroup extracted £203.7 million post-pandemic, including £60 million from Avanti West Coast, and spent £92 million on share buybacks in 2025 with another £50 million planned for 2026.
• Govia paid out £154 million, mainly from its Thameslink operations, even after its Southeastern franchise was removed for financial misconduct.
• Transport UK, the rebranded Abellio, took £114 million from three franchises now back in public hands.
• Arriva, owned by a Luxembourg-based private equity firm, paid out £35 million, almost all from CrossCountry.
• Publicly owned LNER returned more than £90 million to the Treasury.

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• This statement was originally posted by the RMT on 28 November 2025.
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