The British Rail Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive, which can run on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically to operate services through the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France. Eurotunnel indicates the Class 92 locomotive as the reference for other locomotives which railway undertakings might want to get certified for usage in the Channel tunnel.

British Rail Class 92
92033 at London Euston with the Caledonian Sleeper in 2018
Type and origin Builder ASEA Brown Boveri and Brush Traction Build date 1993–1996[1] Total produced 46
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C  • UIC Co′Co′  • Commonwealth Co-Co Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Wheel diameter 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m)[2] Minimum curve 120 m (6 chains)[2] Wheelbase 56 ft 6 in (17.22 m)[2]  • Bogie 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m)[2] Pivot centres 41 ft 10+1⁄2 in (12.764 m)[2] Length 70 ft 1 in (21.36 m)[2] Width 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)[2] Height: ​  • Pantograph 3.96 m (13 ft 0 in)[2] Loco weight 126 tonnes (124 long tons; 139 short tons) Electric system/s 25 kV AC catenary 750 V DC third rail Current pickup(s) 25 kV: Brecknell Willis high speed pantograph[2] 750 V: Contact shoe Traction motors Brush[2] ABB traction converters using GTO, control via ABB MICAS-S2 Train heating Electric Train Heating indices: 25 kV: 180 750 V: 108[2] Loco brake Westinghouse air, rheostatic and regenerative[2] Train brakes Westinghouse air Safety systems AWS, TPWS, TVM-430
Performance figures Maximum speed 87 mph (140 km/h) Power output 25 kV: 6,760 hp (5.04 MW)[2] 750 V: 5,360 hp (4.00 MW)[2] Tractive effort 360 kN (81,000 lbf) 400 kN (90,000 lbf) with 'boost' mode applied
Career Operators British Rail DB Cargo UK GB Railfreight Numbers 92001–92046 Axle load class Route availability 8[2]

Locomotives of this type are operated by GB Railfreight/Europorte 2 and DB Cargo UK. In France, a number were also owned and operated by SNCF; these were classified as CC 92000 on French railways.

The class 92 was intended as a mixed-traffic locomotive both for hauling international freight trains and the ill-fated, never introduced Nightstar passenger sleeper trains though the Channel Tunnel. Since introduction, the fleet was exclusively allocated to freight; however, in March 2015, six locomotives owned by GB Railfreight have begun passenger operations hauling the Caledonian Sleeper on behalf of Serco between London and Scotland, marking the first use of the class in commercial passenger service.

Design

The fleet of 46 locomotives was built by a consortium of Brush Traction and ABB Traction. Parts construction was sub-contracted, with final construction and commissioning being undertaken at Brush's erecting shops at Loughborough between 1993 and 1996. The first unit was produced from 1992 and finished in April 1993.

The bodyshells, shared with the Class 60 diesel locomotives but with a modified front end, were fabricated by Procor Engineering Ltd.)[3] of Horbury and delivered pre-painted in the then-standard triple grey livery.[4] Propulsion is provided by two ABB traction converters using GTO devices, with control via an ABB MICAS-S2. Maximum power is 5 MW (6,700 hp) on 25 kV or 4 MW (5,400 hp) on 750 V; with a tractive effort of 360 kN (81,000 lb_f).

The locomotive is fitted with both rheostatic and regenerative braking, in addition to standard Westinghouse air brake equipment. An electrical train bus is fitted to enable two locomotives to work in multiple formation, either double-heading or push-pull train with a Driving Van Trailer or DBSO.^{[citation needed]}

To reduce the possibility of locomotive failure in the Channel Tunnel, most of the electrical systems are duplicated.

Operations

Prior to introduction to service, two locomotives (92001 and 92002) were extensively tested at the Czech Railway's test track at Velim near Kolín. One locomotive was temporarily moved from here to Vienna Arsenal for climatic testing.

The majority of the class are named after European composers and writers.

Prior to privatisation, ownership of the class was split between Railfreight Distribution, European Passenger Services (Eurostar (UK)) and SNCF. After privatisation the ownership of the Railfreight Distribution fleet was passed to EWS.

During 2000, Eurostar (UK) offered their seven members of the class (92020/021/032/040/044-046) for sale being surplus to requirements with the non-commencement of sleeper services through the Channel Tunnel. However, no buyer could be found[3] so they were decommissioned and stored at Crewe International electric depot. Five of these locomotives have now been purchased by Eurotunnel to be used by their Europorte 2 rail freight undertaking for short haul rail traffic in France.[1] In July 2011, Europorte 2/Eurotunnel purchased the five remaining locomotives that had belonged to SNCF, bringing Eurotunnel's total up to 16 Class 92s.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, a project was undertaken with the aim of allowing the class to be modified for operations on High Speed 1; i.e. with TVM signalling. The project received funding from the European Commission and it was anticipated services would begin in early 2010.[5][6] On 25 March 2011, a modified class 92 locomotive travelled from Dollands Moor to Singlewell for the first time using the TVM430 signalling system.[7] A loaded container train ran for the first time on 27 May 2011 and further trials with loaded wagons were planned until the end of June 2011.[8][9] In July 2011, a trial run of wagons carrying curtain-walled swap bodies built to a larger European loading gauge was run from Dollands Moor, Folkestone to east London.[10] From 11 November 2011, a weekly service using European sized swap bodies has run between Barking, London and Poland using High Speed 1.[11][12]

The class is also notable in that the last train ever to travel under British Rail, the 2315 service from Dollands Moor to Wembley on 21 November 1997, was hauled by 92003 Beethoven.[13]

In April 2015, GB Railfreight commenced a contract to haul the Caledonian Sleeper. Class 92s haul it from London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central.[14] On 31 March 2015, the first Serco Caledonian Sleeper hauled by 92018 left London Euston for Scotland.

On 18 January 2017, the specially-branded 92015 locomotive hauled the first train of twenty flatcars with 40 ft intermodal containers to Ripple Lane, near Barking thus opening the direct rail freight service between the UK and China. The train left Yiwu Xi station in eastern China's Zhejiang province on 1 January[15] and covered 7,456 miles.[16]

In 2018, DB Cargo Romania sold their fleet of Class 92s to Russian company Locotech. The sale being mainly because of the weight of the locomotive being too high for the Romanian railway network (6 tonnes heavier than an Electroputere LE 5100, for example). Locotech rented four locomotives to Croatian open-access freight operator Transagent Rail and locomotives commenced operations in Croatia in September 2018. Three locomotives (92001/03/39) were later returned to DB Cargo Romania.

Liveries

All units were originally painted in a simplified version of the sub-sector railfreight livery of two-tone grey livery, but with a dark blue roof; the same shade as used on Eurostar trains.

To reflect their Channel Tunnel role, all were fitted with three 'O' shaped tunnel logos, each smaller than the next. Names were mainly blue stickers, but a limited number of locomotives gained cast nameplates. Only 92031 did not receive a name during construction, however, it did gain one under EWS ownership.

The locomotives were fitted with Crewe Electric depot plaques to reflect their maintenance facility and to reflect ownership; the nine SNCF owned machines had SNCF branding, six Eurostar owned locos had EPS (European Passengers Services) branding, with the rest having standard cast BR arrows under the drivers window reflecting British Rail ownership.

A number of Railfreight Distribution locomotives had "Railfreight Distribution" written along the locomotive side panels with a small RfD logo included.[17]

Following the privatisation of British Rail and the EWS purchase of Railfreight Distribution, the intention was to paint the RfD Class 92s into the EWS gold and dark red colours. In the end, only two locomotives received EWS livery (92001 and 92031).[18] Locomotive no. 92001 had an additional three flags (English, Welsh and Scottish) below the EWS logo on the cabsides, the only one so treated. The rest of the locomotives had a large EWS Logo applied halfway along the side.

Six Class 92s allocated to Eurostar retained their two-tone grey livery, although there had been a plan to repaint these locomotives into Nightstar two-tone green livery.^{[citation needed]} The combination of rail privatisation, technical problems and the growth of "point to point" low cost airlines undermined the Nightstar venture; the project was abandoned before a single revenue-earning service had even begun. The locomotives remained in two-tone grey until they were purchased by Europorte 2 in the 2000s. Europorte applied the designation "Europorte 2" inside a large Eurotunnel-style circle.

Following the takeover of EWS by DB Schenker, most of the fleet of Class 92s will likely move to DB Schenker Red liveries, matching that on previously repainted Class 66s. 92009 was the first locomotive to be outshopped in the new DB Schenker Red livery. The name "Elgar" had been removed[9] and the locomotive was subsequently renamed "Marco Polo" later during August 2011.[19][20] The new livery has been completed on five locomotives (92009, 92015, 92016, 92031 and 92042).

In 2009, locomotive 92017 (formerly Shakespeare) was painted into Stobart Rail's blue and white livery and named Bart the Engine.

On 10 March 2011, locomotive 92032 appeared in the new Europorte GB Railfreight livery.[21]

In May 2014, Serco won the franchise to operate Caledonian Sleeper services for fifteen years from 2015, with GBRf to provide traction as part of its franchise bid.[22] In February 2015, 92033 was first to be released from Brush Traction after component refresh and subsequent repaint into a "Midnight Teal" livery. 92006/010/014/018/023/038 have also been painted into this livery, bringing the total number of locomotives now in "Midnight Teal" to seven.[23]

Fleet

T.O.P.S. Number	EVN[24]	Other Number(s)	Names carried[25]	Year Built	Operator	Livery	Notes	Commons Link
92001	91 53 0 472 002-1		Victor Hugo Mircea Eliade	1993	DB Cargo Romania	DB Schenker Red
92002	91 53 0 472 003-9		H. G. Wells Lucian Blaga	1993	Transagent Rail Croatia	DB Schenker Red
92003	91 53 0 472 007-0		Beethoven	1994	DB Cargo Romania	British Rail two-tone grey.
92004			Jane Austen	1994	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92005	91 53 0 472005-4		Mozart Emil Cioran	1994	Transagent Rail Croatia
92006			Louis Armand	1994	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper[26]
92007			Schubert	1994	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92008			Jules Verne	1994	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92009			Elgar Marco Polo	1994	DB Cargo UK	DB Schenker Red	Stored
92010			Molière	1994	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper
92011			Handel	1994	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.
92012	91 53 0 472 001-3		Thomas Hardy Mihai Eminescu	1994	Transagent Rail Croatia	DB Schenker Red
92013			Puccini	1994	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92014			Émile Zola	1994	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper
92015			D.H. Lawrence	1994	DB Cargo UK	DB Schenker Red
92016			Brahms	1994	DB Cargo UK	DB Schenker Red	stored
92017			Shakespeare	1994	DB Cargo UK	Stobart Rail livery	stored
92018			Stendhal	1994	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper
92019			Wagner	1994	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.
92020			Milton	1994	GB Railfreight	GB Railfreight Blue & Yellow.
92021			Purcell	1994	GB Railfreight	British Rail two-tone grey.	stored at Brush Traction.
92022			Charles Dickens	1994	DB Cargo Bulgaria	British Rail two-tone grey.
92023			Ravel	1994	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper
92024	91 53 0 472 004-7		J. S. Bach Marin Preda	1994	Transagent Rail Croatia
92025	91 52 1 688 025-1	88 025	Oscar Wilde	1995	DB Cargo Bulgaria	British Rail two-tone grey.
92026			Britten	1995	Transagent Rail Croatia
92027	91 52 1 688 027-7	88 027	George Eliot	1995	DB Cargo Bulgaria	British Rail two-tone grey.
92028			Saint-Saëns	1995	GB Railfreight	GB Railfreight Blue & Yellow.
92029			Dante	1995	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92030	91 52 1 688 030-1	88 030	De Falla Ashford	1995	DB Cargo Bulgaria	British Rail two-tone grey.
92031			Schiller The Institute of Logistics and Transport	1995	DB Cargo UK	DB Schenker Red	Stored
92032			César Franck I Mech E Railway Division	1995	GB Railfreight	GB Railfreight Blue & Yellow.
92033			Railway Heritage Trust Berlioz	1995	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper
92034	91 52 1 688 034-3	88 034	Kipling	1995	DB Cargo Bulgaria	British Rail two-tone grey.
92035			Mendelssohn	1995	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92036			Bertolt Brecht	1995	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.
92037			Sullivan	1995	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored
92038			Voltaire	1995	GB Railfreight	Caledonian Blue	for Caledonian Sleeper
92039	91 53 0 472 006-2		Johann Strauss Eugen Ionescu	1995	DB Cargo Romania	DB Schenker Red
92040			Goethe	1995	GB Railfreight	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored at Brush Traction.
92041			Vaughan Williams	1995	DB Cargo UK	British Rail two-tone grey.
92042			Honegger	1995	DB Cargo UK	DB Schenker Red
92043			Debussy	1995	GB Railfreight	GB Railfreight Blue & Yellow.
92044			Couperin	1995	GB Railfreight	British Rail two-tone grey.
92045			Chaucer	1995	GB Railfreight	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored at Brush Traction.
92046			Sweelinck	1995	GB Railfreight	British Rail two-tone grey.	Stored at Brush Traction.

Model railways

In 1995, Hornby Railways launched its first version of the BR Class 92 in OO gauge. In 2017 Revolution trains announced it was crowdfunding the class 92 in British N gauge (1:148), with the models arriving in April 2021. In 2021, Accurascale plan on launching their own OO gauge Class 92 in various liveries.[27]

Gallery

References

Sources

• Marsden, Colin J.; Fenn, Graham B. (2001). British Rail Main Line Electric Locomotives (2nd ed.). Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 9780860935599. OCLC 48532553.
• Morrison, Gavin (2013). AC Electric Locomotives in Colour. Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711035058. OCLC 812686430.

Further reading

• Vehicle Diagram Book No. 110 for Electric Locomotives (PDF). Barrowmore MRG. Derby: British Railways Board. November 1988. p. 30.
• "Class 92s start work on WCML 'Enterprise' trains". RAIL. No. 332. EMAP Apex Publications. 3–16 June 1998. p. 46. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
• "A Class 92 finally works a service passenger train!". RAIL. No. 339. EMAP Apex Publications. 9–22 September 1998. p. 48. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Rail Class 92.

• SEMG page
• Kent Rail

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[de] BR-Klasse 92

[ru] BRC 92