Eurotunnel: Class 92s allowed to operate on HS1

[John Ashworth]

New locos promise faster tunnel freight

Published: 01 December 2011 11:55 AM
Logistics Manager

Europorte Channel, which provides traction for freight trains through the Channel Tunnel, has been granted approval to use Class 92 locomotives on High Speed 1 – the line between London and the Channel Tunnel.

This means that Europorte can haul larger gauge and higher speed freight traffic between destinations across the continent and London, through the Channel Tunnel, with the journey time from the Tunnel to London being reduced from 4 hours on traditional routes to 70 minutes.

Europorte Channel train drivers are currently being trained to drive on the new route and it is expected that new commercial services will start early in 2012.

HS1 open to Eurotunnel

01 December 2011
Railway Gazette

UK: Eurotunnel announced on December 1 that its Europorte Channel subsidiary had been granted approval to operate its fleet of Class 92 locomotives on High Speed 1. Driver training is now in progress with the expectation that commercial freight services will be launched early in 2012.

Europorte Channel currently operates a fleet of 11 Class 92s to haul freight trains through the Channel Tunnel. Clearance for use on HS1, able to accommodate standard European wagons and swap bodies, opens the prospect of only one locomotive change on international services between Britain and Europe, given that the Class 92 is already approved for operation on Network Rail, but not on the RFF network in France.

‘This is very good news for the future of rail freight in the UK and internationally’, said John Smith, Managing Director of Eurotunnel’s UK freight operating subsidiary GB Railfreight. ‘The extra speed and increased size of wagons that can be carried on HS1 bring significant advantages to rail freight transportation and we hope that this move will pave the way for further expansion of rail freight through the Channel Tunnel’.

As well as a more generous loading gauge, Eurotunnel says that HS1 offers the potential to cut the transit time for freight between London and the Channel Tunnel to just 70 min, compared with 4 h on conventional routes. Following trials earlier this year, the first revenue freight service on HS1 arrived in London on November 11 behind a DB Schenker Rail Class 92, having left Wroclaw in Poland on November 8.

Europorte Channel gets go-ahead for Class 92s to operate on HS1

StockMarketWire.com

Europorte Channel has been granted approval for the use of its fleet of Class 92 locomotives on HS1 between London and the Channel Tunnel.

Access to HS1 means that Europorte Channel can haul larger gauge and higher speed freight traffic between destinations across the continent and London, through the Channel Tunnel, with the journey time from the Tunnel to London being reduced from four hours on traditional routes to just 70 minutes.

Europorte Channel train drivers are currently being trained to drive on the new route and it is expected that new commercial services will start early in 2012.

Europorte Channel - which provides traction services for rail freight trains through the Channel Tunnel and international haulage from Spain and Italy to the UK, can now use its 11 Class 92s throughout the UK network and through the Channel Tunnel.

This means that there is only one locomotive change necessary when arriving in France, where the Class 92s are still unauthorised.

GB Railfreight managing director John Smith said: "This is very good news for the future of rail freight in the UK and internationally.

"The extra speed and increased size of wagons that can be carried on HS1 bring significant advantages to rail freight transportation and we hope that this move will pave the way for further expansion of rail freight through the Channel Tunnel."