Direct Rail Services 68 005 leads a Charter Train towards Canterbury West
The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail (and previously by Vossloh España) for Direct Rail Services in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from the Stadler Eurolight, and Stadler's product name for this variant is the UKLight.
Delivery of the second batch of Class 68s – also for Direct Rail Services, and the first to be built by Stadler – was completed delivery in April 2016. Delivery of the third batch of Class 68s was completed in July 2017.
Background[]
On 5 January 2012 Direct Rail Services announced it had placed an order for fifteen 100 mph (160 km/h) Vossloh Eurolight locomotives from Vossloh España for intermodal and passenger work with a 16-cylinder 3,800 hp (2.8 MW) C175-16 engine from Caterpillar Inc. to be delivered from late 2013; these would be leased from Beacon Rail. The value of the contract has been estimated at £45 million. An option for ten further locomotives was confirmed to have been taken up in September 2014. Further to this, on 28 July 2015 Vossloh España announced an order for a further seven locomotives from DRS.
The locomotives have been given TOPS class 68, Stadler's product name for the design is UKLight.
The Class 68 complies with Stage III A of the European emission standards but not Stage III B.
Delivery[]
The first locomotive, 68 001, spent several months being tested at Velim Test Centre in the Czech Republic prior to being shipped to the UK. The second locomotive in the class, 68 002, was the first to arrive in the UK in January 2014.
Current Operations[]
Direct Rail Services[]
The Class 68 is a mixed-traffic locomotive intended for use on both passenger and freight trains. DRS had indicated that the locomotives will likely be used on container traffic, and on Network Rail trains for which it is contracted to operate. They are now routinely used on nuclear flask trains.
The first passenger trains hauled by Class 68s were DRS special services for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
Chiltern Railways[]
Chiltern Railways have sub-leased six DRS Class 68s (68 010 to 68 015), from December 2014, which have replaced Class 67s on its Chiltern Main Line services between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill. These are painted in Chiltern's silver Mainline livery and are fitted with Association of American Railroads (AAR) push-pull equipment to allow them to operate with Mark 3 coaching stock sets. Two DRS-liveried locomotives (68 008 and 68 009) have also been fitted with AAR push-pull equipment.
TransPennine Express[]
TransPennine Express (TPE) initially sub-leased fourteen Class 68 locomotives (68 019 to 68 032) from Direct Rail Services, for initial use on the Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough route. Once more sets are delivered and staff have been trained they will also work Manchester Airport to Redcar Central services. These will haul five-car rakes of Mark 5A coaches, with a driving trailer at the opposite end. The TPE vinyled locomotives do not feature yellow front ends, following a change to the regulations. In April 2020, nos. 68 033 and 68 034 were added to the TPE pool, to provide added resilience to the sub-fleet.
In November 2017, 68 021 Tireless was moved from the Crewe Gresty Lane TMD to Southampton Docks and ultimately transported to the Velim Test Track in the Czech Republic for testing with the new Mark 5A coaches. Testing included brake-force tests and door-interlock testing before the locomotive was returned to Great Britain in July 2018.
Former Operations[]
Abellio ScotRail[]
Abellio ScotRail sub-leased two Class 68s, to haul sets of six Mark 2 coaches, for use on peak hour services on the Fife Circle Line. These were 68 006 and 68 007, which carried the Saltire livery. These services commenced on the first day of Abellio Scotrail operation, 1 April 2015, with the last service operating on 29 May 2020 as the PRM-TSI derogations for the non-compliant Mark 2 coaches ended on 31 May of that year.
Fleet[]
34 Class 68 locomotives were delivered.
Before delivery, each of the first nine locomotives was named. All of the other Class 68 locomotives (except 68 011–68 015) have also been named; 68 033/034 are yet to be named (with the provisional names listed below) but they were still nameless as of 30 April 2020.
68 010 was named Oxford Flyer on 12 December 2016, in celebration of Chiltern Railways' new London-Oxford services. 68 028 was named Lord President in August 2018, without ceremony, at Crewe Gresty Bridge Depot.
