British Rail class 92

The class 92 is a six-axle mixed-traffic electric locomotive designed for working through the Channel tunnel. This included international freight trains and the planned, but never introduced “Nightstar” service that was intended to run between various destinations in Britain and the European mainland. The majority of the fleet of 46 of these locomotives was operated by the BR sector Railfreight Distribution, but some were operated by SNCF.

Production was carried out by a consortium of ABB and Brush Traction between 1993 and 1996. The body is similar to that of the class 60 diesel locomotive also built by Brush, but has other noses. Each locomotive has two three-axle bogies which also carry the contact shoes for operation under 750 V DC. While they have an output of 5,040 kW (6,760 hp) under 25 kV AC, power is reduced to 4,000 kW (5,360 hp) under DC.

After privatization, new operators in Britain were GB Railfreight, EWS and DB Cargo UK. In 2009, part of the fleet was equipped with the TVM-430 signalling system for use on High Speed 1. Since 2015, the class 92 also hauls the Caledonian Sleeper. Meanwhile, some have been sold to Transagent Rail of Croatia, DB Cargo Romania and DB Cargo Bulgaria.