UK. Stagecoach ‘asked to take on £1.6bn pensions risk’
Stagecoach has said it refused to accept pensions risks that could have been “well in excess of £1bn” for three rail franchises it was disqualified from bidding for in April.
Under one scenario the company estimated it could have been left with liabilities of £1.6bn.
Protections offered by the Department for Transport (DfT) were inadequate, the transport group said.
Rail firms are facing an estimated £7.5bn pensions gap.
Last month, the DfT rejected Stagecoach bids for the East Midlands franchise, the South Eastern franchise with Alstom, and a renewal of the West Coast franchise with Virgin Trains and France’s SNCF.
The department disallowed the bids because they did not meet pensions rules.
On Thursday, Stagecoach said rail franchisees were being asked to accept more risk to plug the pensions gap, and that there had been “requests from the Pensions Regulator for substantial and not yet fully quantified increases in contributions” to the Railways Pensions Scheme.
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