DRS rumoured to be offloading Class 57/3s

Speculation surrounds the prospects for the remaining Class 57/3 locomotives on the books of Direct Rail Services, after rumours circulated that the operator planned to off-lease its remaining examples. 

GB Railfreight is understood to be interested in taking most of the seven currently with DRS. One locomotive (57305) is sub-leased to Great Western Railway for use on the latter’s Night Riviera Sleeper trains. Of the remainder, 57304/307-309 are on hire to Avanti West Coast for ‘Thunderbird’ duties on the West Coast Main Line. 

Responding to an enquiry by RAIL, a DRS spokesman said: “As we look towards our future, and the Government’s net zero carbon targets, we’re in the process of assessing our fleet requirements. “We’ve already reduced the number of heritage locomotives in the fleet, and we’ll continue to focus on our modern, efficient locomotive classes.

“No final decisions have been made on any particular class of locomotive, but we’ll look to utilise our much more efficient and environmentally friendly Class 88 and Class 68 locomotives as we drive forward, ensuring that rail freight is as green as it can be.” 

 Read this article in full in RAIL issue 978 here

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