British Rail Class 68

The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail for Direct Rail Services in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from Stadler Eurolight and Stadler's product name for this variant is UKLight.

The second batch of Class 68s - also for Direct Rail Services, and the first to be built by Stadler - completed delivery in April 2016.

The third batch of Class 68s - completed delivery in July 2017.

Background
On 5 January 2012, Direct Rail Services announced it had placed an order for fifteen 160 km/h Vossloh Eurolight locomotives from Vossloh España for intermodal and passenger work with a 16-cylinder 2.8 MW C175-16 engine from Caterpillar Inc. to be delivered from late 2013. The value of the contract has been estimated at £45 million. An option for ten further UKLights was confirmed to have been taken up in September 2014. Further to this, on 28 July 2015 Vossloh España announced an order for a further 7 locomotives from DRS.

The locomotives have been given TOPS class 68, Stadler's product name for the design is UKLight.

The Class 68 complies with Stage III A of the European emission standards.

Delivery
The first locomotive spent several months being tested at Velim Test Centre in the Czech Republic prior to being shipped to the UK. The second unit in the class, numbered 68 002, was the first to arrive in the UK in January 2014.

Direct Rail Services
The Class 68 is a mixed-traffic locomotive intended for use on both passenger and freight trains. DRS has a contract with VSOE to provide locomotives for its Northern Belle service. DRS has indicated that the locomotives will likely be used on container traffic, and on Network Rail trains for which it is contracted to operate. They are now routinely used on nuclear flask trains.

The first passenger trains hauled by Class 68s were DRS special services for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

Abellio ScotRail
Abellio ScotRail have sub-leased two Class 68s to haul sets of six Mark 2 coaches on peak hour services on the Fife Circle Line.

Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways have sub-leased six Class 68s from December 2014, which have replaced Class 67s on its Chiltern Main Line services between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill. These are painted in Chiltern's silver Mainline livery and are fitted with Association of American Railroads (AAR) push-pull equipment to allow them to operate with Mark 3 coaching stock sets. Two DRS-liveried locomotives (68 008 and 68 009) have also been fitted with AAR push-pull equipment.

TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express will sub-lease 14 Class 68 locomotives from Direct Rail Services from 2018 for initial use on the  to  route, before transferring them to the  to  service in 2019. These will haul five-car rakes of Mark 5A coaches, with a driving trailer at the opposite end. 68019 Brutus and 68021 Tireless have been vinylled into the TransPennine Express livery at Gresty Bridge and do not feature yellow front ends, following a change to the regulations.

In November 2017, 68021 Tireless was moved from Gresty Bridge to Southampton Docks and ultimately transported to the Velim Test Track in the Czech Republic for testing with the new Mark 5A coaches. Testing will include brake-force tests and door-interlock testing before the locomotive is returned to Great Britain. The carriages will then either receive authorisation to run on the National Rail network or go back to the factory for further alterations.

Fleet
As of July 2017, there are 34 Class 68 locomotives in service.

Named locomotives
Before delivery each of the first nine locomotives was named. All of the other Class 68 locomotives (except 68011–68015) have also been named; 68026-034 are due to be named with the following names but, as of June 2018, they are still nameless. 68010 was named on 12 December 2016, in celebration of Chiltern Railways' new London-Oxford services.


 * 68001 - Evolution
 * 68002 - Intrepid
 * 68003 - Astute
 * 68004 - Rapid
 * 68005 - Defiant
 * 68006 - Daring
 * 68007 - Valiant
 * 68008 - Avenger
 * 68009 - Titan
 * 68010 - Oxford Flyer
 * 68016 - Fearless
 * 68017 - Hornet
 * 68018 - Vigilant
 * 68019 - Brutus
 * 68020 - Reliance
 * 68021 - Tireless
 * 68022 - Resolution
 * 68023 - Achilles
 * 68024 - Centaur
 * 68025 - Superb
 * 68026 - to be named Nautilus
 * 68027 - to be named Endeavour
 * 68028 - to be named Splendid
 * 68029 - to be named Destroyer
 * 68030 - to be named Enterprise
 * 68031 - to be named Excelsior
 * 68032 - to be named Patriot
 * 68033 - to be named Courageous
 * 68034 - to be named Victorious

Incidents
68015 caught fire near High Wycombe on 23 October 2015.

A Class 68 caught fire near Saunderton on 8 January 2016.