A 20-year programme of incremental in-fill wiring could break the cycle of freight operators relying on diesel traction that in turn disincentivises Network Rail from electrifying freight routes. Captured at Thurston, Suffolk, is Freightliner diesel No. 66501 Japan 2001 hauling electrics Nos. 90048, 90045, 90010 and 90005 at the head of diverted 4L89/04.10 Crewe-Felixstowe North on October 7, 2022.
KEITH PARTLOW
WHEN the locomotive fleets used by the main freight operators were renewed after Privatisation in the late 1990s onwards, GM’s Class 66 diesel became a defacto standard, later supplemented by other types for specific operating requirements – including the 125mph Class 67s (introduced for postal services, then passenger and ‘Thunderbird’ duties), the higher-powered General Electric Class 70s, and Vossloh/Stadler’s mixed traffic diesel Class 68s and dualmode Class 88s.
The choice of freight traction thus reflects a reluctance to use an allelectric option, with the only classes in recent use (other than for Channel Tunnel traffic) being the now-retired 1960s-built Class 86/6 and the 1980s Class 90 fleet.
Both of these have seen reduced use due to technical issues and – perhaps surprisingly – the uneconomic cost of electric traction current compared to that of diesel fuel.