GB Railfreight has announced that its new Class 99 locomotives will run exclusively on renewable power and electricity. The British rail freight company says that the bi-mode electro-diesels will be filled with a selection of renewable fuels and take electrical power from non-fossil sources.
The blue and gold of GBRf is going green. It’s not a livery change, just a change of fuel policy for its new locomotives. As yet only seen at trade shows, the new Class 99 bi-mode will be bio-mode. The initial fleet of thirty Stadler-built workhorses will be running emissions-free or at least emissions-green when they start entering service in 2025.
Keeping up with the traffic
Looking cleaner than it ever will again, 92002 is set to be the pride of the fleet for GBRf, albeit still residing at the factory gates in Spain. The Peterborough based operator, which describes itself as one of the UK’s leading transporters of consumer and business goods, has made a bold commitment to run the locomotive and its classmates solely on electricity or renewable fuels such as HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil).
GBRf has made several claims about the class. They say they will be the first heavy-haul freight locomotive capable of transporting significant volumes at mainline speeds on both electrified and non-electrified sections of the UK rail network. Other bi-mode locomotives are in service, but GBRf says they will be able to deliver their line speed of 75mph (120km/h) under either power source.
Eagerly anticipated arrival
The Stadler-built Class 99 should give GBRf a significant commercial advantage. Being able to maintain line speed under the wires or not gives the operator a dual advantage of reliability and availability. The new locomotives will, says GBRf, significantly reduce emissions by at least 58%. “With the Class 99s running exclusively on HVO on non-electrified lines, we can now provide our customers with a fully decarbonised solution for freight transport,” said John Smith, Chief Executive Officer at GB Railfreight.
There is still almost a year to go before the class is introduced into revenue-earning service, but GBRf is already painting the new arrivals as a game-changer. They call it a major milestone in sustainable rail freight transport. “This breakthrough is pivotal to our decarbonisation strategy and will help reduce the emissions associated with delivering goods to homes and businesses across the country,” said John Smith. “This marks the next step on our journey to lead the rail freight sector towards a greener future.” Cleaner fuels, like HVO, are becoming increasingly popular across the entire logistics chain, as recently reported in our sister service, WolrdCargo News. The Class 99s are being leased from Beacon Rail, and they are set to enter service in late 2025.