The story
Cotswold Rail was founded in 2000, initially as a broker for rolling stock. In June 2000, it offered 13 Class 141 Pacers for sale.
In 2001, some Class 08 shunting locomotives were purchased, which were hired to both industry and main-line railway companies.
Cotswold Rail also purchased a fleet of Class 47 locomotives. From June 2002 until June 2009, it provided Class 47s for Anglia Railways (and its successor National Express East Anglia), as rescue locomotives, and to haul Mark 2 sets on summer Saturday services from Norwich to Great Yarmouth.
In 2004, Cotswold Rail leased 12 former Virgin Trains Mark 3 carriages from Rolling stock company Porterbrook.
In April 2005, the company acquired leased some Class 87 electric locomotives. A fleet of ten locomotives was planned, for spot-hire work, charter operations, and a new intermodal freight flow. However, all locomotives were returned to the leasing company (Porterbrook) in 2006.
In September 2005, two former Virgin CrossCountry High Speed Train sets were leased. These were returned in August 2006.
In 2005, Cotswold Rail purchased Advenza Freight, primarily for its safety case, which allowed it to operate freight services. In 2007, the railtour promoter, Steamy Affairs, was purchased.
As a result of HM Revenue & Customs successfully applying in October 2009 to have Advenza Freight wound up over unpaid taxes, Cotswold Rail entered voluntary administration in January 2010.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cotswold Rail, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3