Europe: ‘We see a supply gap for hauled coaches and locos’

Leoš Novotný, founder of Leo Express and the Leo Mobility Management rolling stock leasing company, explains to Benjámin Zelki how his latest venture will function as a ‘Booking.com for rail operators’, providing fast access to rolling stock and financing while disrupting the established Rosco model. ‘We see a supply gap for quick, scaleable solutions on the European passenger rolling stock market’, says Leoš Novotný, founder of the Leo Mobility Management rolling stock leasing company, speaking exclusively to Railway Gazette International on the back of InnoTrans 2026. Novotný, who is perhaps best known as the founder of open access operator Leo Express in 2010, says the size of the gap is significant. ‘We identify a demand for at least 3 000 passenger coaches and 300 locomotives, primarily on international main lines, both second-hand and new-build. This is all by the year of 2030 and across all European operators, including publicly owned or private’, he predicts. He explains that Leo Mobility Management was set up in 2025 as a rolling stock leasing company to address this gap in the market. Subsequently, ‘we engineered the Trainshop.com platform to provide procurement and financing all in one’, he adds. ‘This market need was identified by an analysis carried out by Berlin-based market research consultancy SCI Verkehr, which we commissioned in October 2023 for €50 000.’ ‘Booking.com for trains’ Novotný explains that Trainshop.com is an e-commerce platform, which he likens to ‘Booking.com for train operators, where they can configure, order and get financed their needs all on one platform. We believe that the rolling stock leasing space in Europe is very old-fashioned. We wanted to be a modern Rosco that does things differently. ‘At Trainshop.com, operators can assemble a complete trainset, configure the passenger interiors to fit the type of service required. They can select the particular countries of service, the desired maximum speed of operation and add the required certification needs.’ For state-owned operators, the platform will also process the tender documentation so that the procurement complies with the relevant European legislative and regulatory conditions. LMM anticipates that the delivery lead time for a generic trainset could be around two years. Investment bank backing After configuring their desired trainset, Novotný explains that operators ‘can select the preferred method of financing, the level of downpayment they wish to allocate, as well as assess the available lease rate. Options include rates based on train-km, but loan or permanent purchase are not available. The provision of financing is a very important element of Trainshop.com, as we see financing often being the bottleneck, not just for the privately owned, but also for state-owned operators. ‘The entire financing model is underwritten by a global investment bank headquartered in London that understands rail. We teamed up with this company. I cannot disclose their name now, but hopefully soon we will’, Novotný explains. When the order is completed, Trainshop.com draws up a draft manufacturing agreement with the original equipment manufacturer and outline financing agreements with the relevant leasing companies and the investment bank. This then produces the deal documentation for signing. Negotiating with OEMs The rolling stock pool currently available on Trainshop.com consists of a number of secondhand and new-build locomotives capable of operating in the 200 to 230 km/h range, including Taurus and Vectron models from Siemens Mobility, as well as a small number of secondhand locos from Alstom. ‘These models are already available on the secondhand market in large numbers, and as soon as we get the reservation from an operator, we acquire them,’ Novotný says. ‘On top of this, we are now negotiating with half a dozen of the main suppliers, well-known on the European market, for new-build passenger coaches and locomotives’, he adds, again without elaborating on the specific suppliers involved. ‘We love the Vectouro [hauled coach design recently launched by Siemens Mobility] and we want to sell it on Trainshop.com with our Neo coaches,’ Novotný responds when asked how LMM’s offering differs from the direct-to-market proposition of an original equipment manufacturer, with or without a conventional leasing company. Siemens’ platform includes driving cars and several types of intermediate coaches including dining cars. Novotný says that ‘the most notable difference is that Trainshop.com is not tailored to any supplier or leasing company, so anybody can configure, order, and at the same time get financing for a trainset by any OEM that corresponds directly to their needs.’ Magyar Vagon secures Neo coach contract In a deal announced at InnoTrans 2026, Leo ­Mobility Management has selected Hungarian rolling stock manufacturer Magyar Vagon Vasúti Kft to supply 200 Neo modular passenger coaches that can be configured to meet operator requirements. The Neo coaches will be designed for operation at up to 200 km/h, and will have full TSI certification. They will have interiors assembled from standardised modules under a design concept developed by NeoMind. The interior of the coaches will be configurable by the customers according to the type of route, capacity and level of service. This could range from a high-density vehicle with 150 places and perch seats through a standard economy layout with 104 seats to 50 in business or just 40 in a sleeper configuration. It would also be possible to combine a mix of classes in a single vehicle. ‘Over the past decade we have delivered coaches to a number of operators around the world. We know that their requirements change faster than a coach reaches the end of its life’, said Dr László Ludvig, CEO of Magyar Vagon Vasúti Kft. ‘The design must adapt to that, and the Neo platform has been developed around this philosophy from the outset. That is why we have joined this project.’ Szolnok-based MVV specialises in building and repairing rolling stock, particularly for Hungarian national operator MÁV Személyszállítási Zrt, which holds a 25% stake in the business. The remaining 75% is held by the Magyar Vagon group, which owned the Dunakeszi Járműjavító plant in Hungary before it was taken over by the state in December 2025. ‘Neo’ and ‘Evo’ Novotný envisages a pool of passenger coaches for LMM made up of both secondhand and new-build vehicles. ‘Secondhand coaches will be refurbished into a standard what we call “Evo”. They look same as Neo, but are built on a secondhand frame. And there will be the standard what we call the “Neo” which is a new-build inventory.’ The pool available on Trainshop.com currently consists of the 200 coaches ordered from Magyar Vagon, but Novotný insists that ‘Trainshop.com is going to evolve every week’. Magyar Vagon Vasúti Kft is ‘the first, but not not the only company with which we have signed an agreement. ‘We are at about a 40% reservation rate for the Magyar Vagon deal, so 80 coaches ordered. We are filling up the orders and we expect to commence the manufacturing when we have all the 200 coaches booked’, he adds. ‘I see clear demand for refurbished secondhand coaches,’ Novotný says. ‘Previously, in 2023, as part of a Czech financial group, I was co-founder of another leasing company called Creditas Mobility. We started acquiring secondhand rolling stock, mainly coaches. Creditas Mobility now has 115 refurbished secondhand passenger coaches purchased from European operators, including Deutsche Bahn and the Netherlands’ NS. These were refurbished for operators including Austria’s ÖBB and private operator FlixTrain. I sold my shares in 2024 and we are now operating independently.’ Creditas has confirmed to Railway Gazette International that it no longer has any involvement with LMM or a working relationship with Novotný. An imaginary train configured As recommended by Novotný, Railway Gazette International had a go at configuring a train order for an imaginary Budapest – Wien – Praha open-access service at Trainshop.com. We selected the financially most viable offer for ordering four secondhand Taurus locos which are already certified for the desired countries and 32 yet-to-be built standard class coaches from MVV. This generated a monthly lease cost of €997 500 that included maintenance. However, there were trade-offs: the hauled coaches were limited to 200 km/h operation, rather than a more commercially desirable 230 km/h, but Novotný insisted that ‘Trainshop.com will have 230 km/h cars too, very soon’. ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’ ‘I am still a board member and a shareholder in Leo Express, but minority and passive’, Novotný says as he reflects on his experience with the eponymous business he founded. Since August 2021, Spanish national operator RENFE has held 50% of the shares, the largest stake in Leo Express. ‘They are in control, they run the show and grow the business. For me, it is rather a previous chapter of my career’, he says. ‘With Leo Express, I learned all the good things about the asset space, the maintenance space and the operating space, and all those ­experiences have helped us in starting up LMM and Trainshop.com. ‘The story of the competition of Leo Express, RegioJet and incumbent České Dráhy competing for the Czech market in the last over 15 years reminds me of the story of Microsoft, Apple and IBM in the 1980s-90s. There were the three big players on one market, killing each other. And, as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger. It was a tremendous success story for liberalisation, resulting in a serious growth of the market, ultimately benefitting Czech passengers. Policy: Incumbents and new entrants face shared uncertainty, warns ČD ‘We have learned how to optimise the utilisation of the assets, the super-efficient maintenance of our trainsets, carried out often overnight and ­during operations. We learned how to finance and insure our equipment, and how to work with ­drivers, software, and also how to provide onboard catering’, Novotný says. ‘All these learnings led us to understand the key significance of the available seat kilometre. It is a very important metric of your efficiency, helping to maximise the utilisation of our trains and minimise the unit cost. With that in mind, we’re providing ­Rosco services to our customers now. On top of the leasing service, Trainshop.com is also an advisory for our customers on how best to maximise utilisation and minimise the unit costs.’ Opportunities beyond the EU While LMM and Trainshop are initially focused on the European market , Novotný sees opportunities elsewhere. ‘I believe Turkey is up and coming. There are a lot of infrastructure investments underway and the demand for rolling stock is not being met by the supply chain, especially for new-build vehicles. We’re active in Turkey and have some ongoing discussions there, both in freight and passenger rolling stock leasing. ‘North America is another promising market’, Novotný predicts.‘I spent some time there previously and we will be looking into providing the same Rosco services in Canadaand the USA.’ This article first appeared in the October 2026 issue of Railway Gazette International Read the issue