Regardless of fuel supply, full line speed freight is the dawn of a new era for British Rail freight. Maggie Simpson, the director general of the Rail Freight Group, has welcomed the recently announced arrival of the UK version of Stadler’s Eurodual locomotive as the beginning of more than just a modal shift in motive power.
The imminent delivery of what will be designated class 99 has pleased Maggie Simpson and her audience at the recent Rail Freight Group Conference in Edinburgh. GB Railfreight has broken ranks and ordered 30 units capable of overhead electric traction and operation under their own onboard diesel power.
Investment will be transformative
As the voice of the rail freight industry in the UK, Simpson has always been generous in her praise of rail freight company investments, particularly in new facilities and equipment. The size of the order from GB Railfreight was particularly welcome since it played a part in persuading Stadler to adapt their already popular design to the unique constraints of the British loading gauge.
The thirty new bi-mode locomotives, financed in a deal with leasing agents Beacon Rail, should be capable of operating full sized intermodal trains at line speed even when using the onboard diesel engine over short distances. “This kind of investment will be transformative for decarbonising rail freight”, says Simpson. “[This] should allow a significant increase in the use of electric traction on the network, by opening up journeys which are only partly ‘under the wires’, whilst eliminating the need for locomotive changes on route.”