GB Railfreight (GBRf), the UK’s leading rail freight operator, yesterday operated the first commercial service of the Class 99 hybrid freight locomotive, marking a major milestone in the modernisation and decarbonisation of Britain’s rail freight network.
Yesterday, 99001, the first commercial Class 99 service for Maritime Transport departed DP World London Gateway carrying intermodal freight – goods moved in the same container by multiple modes of transport, such as rail and road – bound for Maritime’s Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal in the West Midlands.
The new Class 99 locomotives – set to reduce emissions by more than half on a typical journey – are key to unlocking green growth across the rail freight sector, which is worth £2.5b to the national economy and will help meet the Government’s target to grow the sector 75% by 2050. Combining electric operation with the ability to run on non-electrified routes using renewable fuels, the new locomotives are designed to cut carbon emissions without compromising access to any part of the national rail network.
