The British Rail Class 90 is a type of electric locomotive built for mixed-traffic duties, operating from overhead lines and producing . It weighs 84.5tonnes and can typically achieve a top speed of .
The Class 90 is a modernised derivative of the preceding locomotive, having been originally designated as the Class 87/2. During the 1980s, British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) had submitted an offer to build 25 examples to replace various aging electric locomotives, including Classes 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85. It was selected over numerous rival proposals, including the InterCity 225 and the ; the type was manufactured by BREL at Crewe Works between 1987 and 1990.
The Class 90 was introduced to service during the closing years of British Rail, being used for both passenger services and freight trains alike. Following the privatisation of British Rail, the type has served with several operators, including Abellio Greater Anglia, Virgin Trains West Coast and Great North Eastern Railway (GNER); it was, however, displaced largely from regular passenger services during the 2000s and 2010s. Currently, Class 90 locomotives are employed on heavy freight trains and occasional charter services.
History The origins of the Class 90 can be traced back to various schemes performed by British Rail (BR) during the 1970s and 1980s. Several events had led to a significant nationwide shortage of electric traction; these included the electrification of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and the cancelled procurement of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT), which had been intended to be the next major inter-city express train. Several different initiatives were launched during this era to alleviate this shortage, including an electrified version of the InterCity 125 (known as the HST-E), the Class 89 mixed-traffic locomotive and what would become the InterCity 225.
While BR's board had approved the ordering of a single Class 89 for demonstration purposes, the Strategy Committee queried why the locomotive had been favoured over a proposed 80-tonne Bo-Bo locomotive. At this time, the Class 89 had been allegedly thought to be a low-risk option for multi-purpose operations, but offered little in the way of performance advantages over the existing Class 87. It was clear that additional electric locomotives were necessary no matter what, as both the 1950s-era Classes 81 and 85 electric locomotives were nearing the end of their viable service lives and had become quite unreliable. The InterCity 225 had been intended to address this need for multi-purpose traction; the prequalification document included a requirement for it to perform mixed-traffic duties, including day and night passenger duties, parcel/mail traffic, and overnight heavy freight services. Appraisals had also determined that the Class 89 was comparatively inferior in financial terms to the InterCity 225, which decreased the likelihood of the former ever attaining quantity production.
While it was intended for the InterCity 225 to be ubiquitous, even potentially having the capability built into it to operate over the southern third-rail network and within the Channel Tunnel, such fanciful ideas had been curtailed by mid-1984. BR officials opted to deprioritise the freight haulage capabilities of the InterCity 225; instead, they planned to meet the outstanding traction needs for the sector via other platforms. The Class 87 locomotive, having been introduced a decade earlier, had proven itself capable; thus there was considerable interest procuring additional units as a low-cost option with virtually no risk for the West Coast Main Line (WCML). BREL issued its submission to produce an initial batch of 25 Class 87/2s (the original designation for the Class 90), which quickly received a favourable reception.
BR's board decided that it would curtail its plans to source the InterCity 225 for the WCML and instead procure the Class 87/2 to haul its intended traffic. As result, the freight business refused to finance a planned upgrade to InterCity 225's traction equipment, which would have given the former an equal haulage capability to the Class 87/2. Further studies determined that, when hauling passenger consists, the Class 87/2 had no disadvantage against the InterCity 225 on the WCML, unless the latter was outfitted with tilting coaches; both the Class 87/2 and the InterCity 225's locomotive had been specified to possess at least . Accordingly, the procurement of the Class 90 was assured, while no InterCity 225s would be sourced for the WCML.
A total of fifty Class 90 locomotives were manufactured by BREL at Crewe Works between 1985 and 1990; these were numbered 90001-050.
Description
The design of the Class 90 is heavily derived from the Class 87, but incorporates many improvements and new features; due to this lineage, the type was initially classified as the Class 87/2 prior to introduction. However, on account of its many visual and technical differences, it was decided to reclassify the locomotive as its own TOPS class. The Class 90s were primarily built to replace the Class 81-85 locomotives, all of which dated from the early 1960s and had become quite unreliable due to their advanced ages.
The class is fitted with rheostatic brakes, in addition to standard Westinghouse air brake equipment. A Time-Division Multiplexer (TDM) is fitted to enable two or more locomotives to work in multiple or to work a push-pull passenger train with a Driving Van Trailer (DVT), DBSO or Propelling Control Vehicle. Single-phase 1,000V electric train supply (ETS) is provided to facilitate passenger working.
In 1991, with the sectorisation of British Rail removing shared mixed-traffic locomotives and limiting them to specific sectors, 25 locomotives were dedicated for freight traffic; they were reclassified Class 90/1 and renumbered 90126–150, with a 26th (90125) converted in 1993. The modifications included lowering the maximum speed to , isolating the ETS by removing the ETH jumper cables and, later, by removing the drop-head buckeye and associated rubbing plate. Many of these locomotives were repainted into the new Railfreight Distribution two-tone grey livery, which was replaced by a revised version in 1994. Three locomotives (90128, 90129 and 90130) received special continental liveries: (NMBS/SNCB blue, Deutsche Bahn red and SNCF grey respectively) to celebrate the Freightconnection event in 1992.
In October 1991, the BR Parcels sector rebranded itself as Rail Express Systems, introducing a new livery; locomotives were dedicated to Royal Mail parcels services and postal trains. They were primarily used on London-Glasgow, London-Newcastle and Birmingham-Glasgow services. Five locomotives, 90016-020, were repainted into the new livery between October 1991 and March 1992.
Of the remaining locomotives, the first 15 (90001-015) were operated by InterCity West Coast on express passenger services and 90021-025 were operated by Railfreight Distribution; the latter group remained as standard Class 90/0 locomotives to enable them to operate charter trains or be used on standard passenger trains. Due to the Class 91s' initial unreliability, Railfreight Distribution leased some of their 90/0s to InterCity for use on the ECML with Mark 4 coaches. These services were usually limited to to / services, due to their lower top speed.
Many Class 90 locomotives have received names: passenger locomotives were named after cities, newspapers or famous institutions; many of the freight locomotives were given names with a commercial link. The Class 90 was the first new locomotive to carry InterCity Swallow livery.
Current operators Upon the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, the Class 90 fleet was divided between several train operating companies:
DB Cargo UK
English, Welsh & Scottish Railway acquired the largest fleet: 20 locomotives from Railfreight Distribution and five from Rail Express Systems.
DB Cargo UK Class 90s were planned to be hired to Grand Central to haul Mark 4 carriages on its to services; however, these were abandoned permanently on 10 September 2020.
In July 2023, DB Cargo announced that it was withdrawing its entire Class 90 locomotive fleet from active service, due to high energy costs, and stated that this would be a permanent move. Managing director Andrea Rossi stated that the company would focus instead on alternative methods to meet their climate targets, including expansion of the use of biofuels and HVO-based resources; in the meantime, electric-hauled traction would be replaced by diesel power. DB stated that they were working towards the sale/disposal of their Class 90 fleet. In September 2023, DB Cargo published a list of locomotives that would be sold to the highest bidder. Eight of these were sold subsequently to Sandbach Commercial Dismantlers; the first three (90030, 90033 and 90038) left Crewe Electric depot by road for storage pending final scrapping in late April 2024.
Freightliner
Freightliner inherited ten Class 90/1 locomotives, which were numbered 90141-150 and had been leased from Porterbrook; these have since been returned to their original Class 90/0 configuration. Freightliner also acquired 90016 from EWS, as a replacement for 90050 which was withdrawn in 2004 following fire damage while on lease to EWS. 90050 was stored subsequently at Crewe Basford Hall for use as a donor of spare parts to its other Class 90 locomotives; in October 2023, it was loaned long-term to Crewe Heritage Centre where it has received cosmetic improvements.
During 2019, Freightliner purchased thirteen Class 90 locomotives from Porterbrook Leasing, which were formerly operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. Upon transfer of the fleet in May 2020, the locos underwent a modification programme to match the freight Class 90 specification; they have since replaced Freightliner's locomotives, which date back to the mid-1960s. In July 2020, 90014 was painted by Toton TMD and given the name Over the Rainbow.
Locomotive Services Limited Following their withdrawal by Abellio Greater Anglia in 2020, 90001 and 90002 were acquired by Locomotive Services Limited (LSL) to operate their excursion trains alongside their Class 86 and Class 87. Their use varies between working excursions along the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and , sometimes working as part of a tour worked partly by a steam locomotive. After purchase by LSL, the two locomotives were repainted into their original InterCity Swallow livery; 90001 was named Royal Scot and 90002 Wolf of Badenoch. In June 2025, 90026 was acquired from DB Cargo UK.
Former operators Caledonian Sleeper
Virgin Trains contracted were replaced by English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) Class 90s in March 1998. An agreement was reached in 2006 to paint a number of Class 90s into First ScotRail colours, for exclusive use hauling the Caledonian Sleeper. In 2015, with Serco taking over the Caledonian Sleeper franchise, the haulage contract moved to GB Railfreight, which chose to use s on the WCML; however, due to mechanical problems, a Class 90 locomotive was used. This was initially hired from DB Cargo UK, but later changed to Freightliner. Their operation on the route ended in October 2019.
East Coast Main Line In the late 1990s, GNER hired Class 90s to stand in for Class 91s on London Kings Cross to Leeds services; 90024 was repainted into their dark blue livery. In 2016, DB Cargo Class 90s were returned to the East Coast Main Line on Virgin Trains East Coast's London to , Leeds and services, whilst the Class 91 locomotives were overhauled. These continued to be operated by London North Eastern Railway until 9 June 2019.
Greater Anglia