BRITISH freight operator GB Railfreight (GBRf) has unveiled the first two of 30 class 99 locomotives that Stadler is supplying under a £150m order financed by rolling stock leasing company Beacon Rail.
The new dual-mode six-axle locomotives were presented to customers and other stakeholders at a ceremony that took place at GBRf’s main operating base in Peterborough on July 17, presided over by GBRf CEO, John Smith, and attended by rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy.
Smith described the class 99 as “the new benchmark for performance and sustainability in UK rail freight.” Derived from Stadler’s Eurodual design to fit the more restrictive British loading gauge, the class 99 is being built at the manufacturer’s plant in Valencia, Spain.
Rated at 6.17MW when taking current from the overhead supply at 25kV ac, the class 99 is fitted with a 1.79MW Cummins 16-cylinder QSK50 diesel engine. Provision has been made for the installation of onboard ETCS equipment.
The first two locomotives have been delivered following testing at Velim in the Czech Republic. Dynamic and final approval testing in Britain is expected to begin later this summer. GBRf intends to deploy the new fleet in revenue service once a pool of at least six is available later this year, with four in use and two acting as spares.
Deliveries are due for completion by the end of 2026. The last 10 to be delivered will be equipped to provide power for coach air-conditioning and lighting, and GBRf has announced the class 99 will haul the services of luxury train operator Belmond, an existing customer.
In its core freight role, GBRf has still to decide where the class 99 will be deployed, although Smith confirmed that intermodal services running from the Port of Felixstowe via Ipswich and London to terminals in the north of England are the obvious candidate.
GBRf believes that the class 99 will offer performance similar to its class 66 diesel fleet on the short non-electrified section of the route between Felixstowe and Ipswich, able to match class 66 timings when hauling trains up to 2500 tonnes in weight.
When operating in electric mode beyond Ipswich, the class 99 will be able to haul heavier trains at higher speed, saving at least 30 minutes on current timings.
Call for support
At the launch event, Smith made it clear that the rail freight industry is concerned about how Britain’s mainly private freight operators will fit in the new structure bringing passenger operations and infrastructure management together under the publicly-owned Great British Railways (GBR).
Smith said the industry needed “formal certainty” from GBR over the availability of freight paths and the future track access charging regime. “Please support us,” was his plea to government regarding rail freight growth targets. Smith also called for the tax on diesel fuel to be increased, pointing out that the road haulage industry has benefitted from years of fuel duty freezes while rail freight operators have seen all their main costs increase.
Hendy conceded that Smith was “right to be apprehensive” about what GBR would bring, but said that change would be on the basis of “where we are now, not a completely new start.” He stressed that GBR will accommodate freight but noted that the network is already very busy.
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