Editing Rail transport in Great Britain (section)

===White paper 2004===
[[File:Avanti West Coast 390151 at Stafford railway station, Jan 2022 02.jpg|thumb|An [[Avanti West Coast]] [[British Rail Class 390|Class 390 ''Pendolino'']] train at [[Stafford railway station|Stafford station]]]]
In July 2004, the DFT's White Paper on the future of the railways expressed dissatisfaction with the operation of the rolling stock leasing market, and the belief there may have been excessive pricing on the part of the ROSCOs.

In June 2006, [[Gwyneth Dunwoody]], chair of the [[Transport Select Committee]] of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], called for an investigation into the companies.<ref>{{cite news |title= Review of train leasing urged |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/3434369.stm |date= 6 June 2006 |work= BBC News |access-date= 6 June 2006 |archive-date= 3 June 2004 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040603080140/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/3434369.stm |url-status= live }}</ref> Transport commentator [[Christian Wolmar]] has asserted the high cost of leasing is due to the way the franchises are distributed to the train operating companies. While the TOCs are negotiating for a franchise they have some freedom to propose different rolling stock options. It is only once they have won the franchise, however, they start negotiating with the ROSCOs. The ROSCO will know the TOC's requirements and also knows the TOC has to obtain a fixed mix of rolling stock which puts the train operating company at a disadvantage in its negotiations with the ROSCO.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wolmar |first=Christian  |title=On the Wrong Line |page=289 }}</ref>