‘Taken for a Ride’: The Privatization of the UK Railway Rolling Stock Industry

The three UK rolling stock companies (ROSCOs) are a product of the privatization of the railway industry in the 1990s. As the UK approaches the 25th anniversary of the first privatization of a state-owned industry (telecommunications), this article evaluates the background and the structure of the ROSCO privatization sales. The authors show that the privatization of the UK's rolling stock industry was a significant triumph of political expediency over sound governmental financial policy. The ROSCOs have attracted relatively little attention, yet nowhere else have the flaws in the privatization process become more apparent.