Design, testing and introduction

EWS ordered thirty locomotives via leasing company Angel Trains in a £45 million contract split between Alstom and Electro Motive Diesel,^[6] for use as Class 47 replacements for hauling high-speed Royal Mail trains and passenger trains.^[7] The locomotives were obtained on a 15-year lease from Angel Trains.^[7] At the end of the fifteen-year contract, ownership of the locomotives was transferred to DB Cargo UK.

The bodyshell is a monocoque load-bearing Alstom design,^[7][8] the bogies are an "H" frame Alstom design,^[7] the engine, traction motors and control electronics are GM-EMD products, and the same as used in the Class 66. Unlike the Class 66, the traction motors are frame mounted rather than axle hung to reduce unsprung mass and the gear ratio is increased allowing higher speeds.^[7] The cab design has a central driving position.^[8]

The locomotives are able to provide Electric Train Supply for passenger train heating and air-conditioning, and are equipped for both buffers and chain couplers and buckeye couplers, the latter attached by a swing arm mount.^[8]

High-speed running tests were undertaken with 67002 starting at Alstom's facility at La Sagra (Toledo, Spain) and running on the standard gauge Madrid-Toledo high-speed rail line.^[8] A top speed of 143 miles per hour (230 km/h) was obtained.^[7]

The first locomotive to be delivered was 67003, which arrived in October 1999. Initially plans were for a rapid acceptance into service, but problems with the locomotives being slightly out of loading gauge^[7] caused delays. Acceptance trials began in December, and all 30 units had been delivered to the UK by early 2000.^[8]

The high axle load of the locomotive caused an initial speed restriction to 110 mph (177 km/h) and modifications to the bogies were required; locomotive 67023 was passed for 125 mph (201 km/h) running in July 2001,^[9] and all 30 units had been modified by June 2003.^[10]

DB Cargo UK

The class were initially used primarily on mail trains.^[11] In June 2003 EWS lost the Royal Mail mail train contract, with services diminishing to complete cessation in March 2004.^[12][13]

The locomotives have since been used by First ScotRail on the Caledonian Sleeper on non-electrified lines north of Edinburgh. In April 2015, GB Railfreight commenced a contract to haul the Caledonian Sleeper with 67004 repainted and renamed for use on the service. When GB Railfreight started to provide the trains and crews for the Serco franchise in 2015, it was planned to use rebuilt Class 73/9s.^[14] The first of these came into service in February 2016^[15] but the Class 67s continued to be used on some services for another couple of years.

Class 67s are also used as Thunderbird rescue locomotives, for failed trains on the East Coast Main Line, on some freight trains, and for use on chartered tourist trains.^[9][11] Two locomotives were assigned to, and received special liveries for use with the Royal Train from 2003,^[9][16] and a third had a commemorative jubilee livery applied for use with the Royal Train during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012.^[17]

Five locomotives were also dedicated to Wrexham & Shropshire's services until it ceased operating in January 2011.^[18]

Chiltern Railways began using ex-Wrexham & Shropshire Class 67 hauled passenger sets in December 2010,^[19] in September 2011 after improvements to the Chiltern Main Line infrastructure, Chiltern began running a 100 mph (160 km/h) service from London to Birmingham branded Mainline using Class 67 powered sets.^[20][21] Chiltern Railways leased six Class 68s from December 2014, to replace Class 67s on its Chiltern Main Line services.^[22][23] In March 2012, Arriva Trains Wales began the lease of three Class 67s from DB Schenker to replace its Class 57s on its Premier Service.^[24]

In December 2023, DB Cargo UK listed 10 Class 67s for sale.^[25]

GBRf

In mid-2022, GBRf took over the leases for 67023 and 67027, though issues with the locomotives ^[26] meant that GBRf did not take over their operation until November 2022 when 67023 was moved to Scotland to start work on the Caledonian Sleeper contract on the Edinburgh – Inverness legs of the Highland diagrams. 67027 moved to Arlington Works (Eastleigh) for a repaint into GBRf livery, with maintenance work also being completed. 67023 ran its first Caledonian Sleeper diagram in December 2022.^[27]

In June 2023, 67027 was returned from GBRf to Colas, being stripped of its GBRf branding and having Colas decals applied.^[28]

Colas Rail

In January 2017, DB Cargo UK sold 67023 and 67027 to Colas Rail, which were repainted at Toton TMD for use on Network Rail infrastructure monitoring trains.^[29][30] In December 2018, these two Class 67s were included in a sale of 67 France and UK based locomotives to Beacon Rail Leasing. They were subsequently leased back to Colas Rail. ^[31]

Summary

Fleet List

Locomotives that do not currently carry their names are shown with the name in brackets.