The first of three Class 66s from Sweden has arrived in the UK for use by GB Railfreight.
On June 3, 66790 was moved from Immingham Docks to Longport, where Electro-Motive Diesel will convert it to UK standards before the ‘66’ enters traffic.
Leased from Beacon Rail Leasing, the ‘66’ was previously T66403, and will be joined by classmates T66404/405, which will be renumbered 66791/792 respectively. They date from November 2002, and were bought by Beacon Rail in 2009 from HSBC Rail.
This will take the number of former European Class 66s in the GBRf fleet to eight, joining 66747-749 which arrived from Holland and 66750/751 which moved from Germany.
They are to be fitted with standard UK safety equipment and will be repainted into GBRf livery. It takes the number of ‘66s’ in the GBRf fleet to 91.
“These locomotives are incredibly reliable and will assist us in delivering the best possible service now and into the future,” said GBRf Managing Director John Smith.
- For the FULL story, read RAIL 881, published on June 19, and available digitally on Android, iPad and Kindle from June 15.
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AndrewJG8918 - 06/06/2019 20:22
Chiltern Railway could bring in more Class 66s & Mk3 carriages+DVT to boost its Mainline services. Such as London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill, Aylesbury, Stratford-upon-Avon, Banbury, Shrewsbury, Worcester Shrub Hill and Oxford routes.
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Bengt - 09/01/2020 11:17
Are the Knorr brake valves changed out to Westinghouse or whatever their name is?
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