In 1902, the North Eastern started to electrify its suburban network in the Tyneside area. From Newcastle Manors station to Quayside Yard, there was a 3/4 mile curved freight line that had a gradient of 1 in 27 or 3.7 percent. Since this was too steep for efficient operation with steam locomotives, Wilson Worsdell decided to electrify this line, too. The specification for two electric locomotives to use on this short line included that they were able to haul 300 tons at 14 mph and to start up to 150 tons on the steepest portion.

They were designed as steeplecabs and were inspired by some locomotives GE had delivered to the Italian Milan-Varese Railway. The mechanical part came from Brush, while the electric part came from British Thomson-Houston. Four traction motors delivered 160 hp each. Additionally to the bow collector on the hood for the overhead line, they had collectors for the third rail in the tunnels.

The two locomotives were introduced in June 1905 when the electrification was finished. The bow collector was later replaced by a pantograph on the cab roof. In 1923, they came to the LNER and it took until 1945 for them to be assigned the class name ES1 for “Electric Shunting 1”. They were withdrawn in 1964 when the line was de-electrified and dieselised. One was preserved and is now on display at Shildon.

In the final years of its existence the North Eastern planned to electrify the East Coast Main Line between York and Newcastle with 1,500 volts direct current. Even before the electrification of the entire route began, an express locomotive was built for testing. The design came from Sir Vincent Raven and was based on the modern electric express locomotives from mainland Europe.

The three powered axles had wheels with a diameter of 6 f 8 in, as was also used on express steam locomotives. The power came from a double motor with two times 224 kW per axle, which was connected to the axle via a spring-loaded quill. A bogie sat under two lower hoods at both ends. An electrically operated steam boiler was located in the middle structure to heat passenger cars.

Schematic drawing with dimensions

Locomotive Magazine, September 1922

When the North Eastern joined the LNER at the grouping of 1923, the plans to electrify the East Coast Main Line were halted. Up until then the locomotive had only been tested on the short section between Shildon and Newport and was no longer used regularly with passengers. It was then put into storage and was even taken over by British Railways in 1948. Since there was no longer any use for the outdated one-off, it was scrapped two years later.

The class 71, initially known as the type HA, was a locomotive for third rail electrified lines. Depending on the region, they were operated with 650 or 750 volts. For station areas with many points, in which there was an overhead line instead of the third rail, they had a pantograph on the center roof. To overcome short non-electrified gaps, they had a flywheel to maintain speed. Nevertheless, the first ten locomotives were converted to diesel locomotives as early as the 1960s because they had competition from the class 73 electro-diesel locomotives. The latter ultimately led to all remaining locomotives being withdrawn at the same time in 1977.

The Class 87 was developed as a development of the Class 86. The main differences included an increase in output to 5,000 hp, a top speed of 110 mph and a sprung drive. It was mainly used on the West Coast Main Line in front of express trains, but also in front of freight trains. In the 1980s, a more modern multiple control system was retrofitted, which also allowed the use of driving van trailers (control cars).

The class 90 was in turn a direct derivative and was originally intended to be designated class 87/2. After privatization in the 1990s, most of the locomotives went to Virgin Trains, where they were only used to haul express trains. After the decommissioning, which took place in the first decade after the turn of the millennium, many locomotives were sold to Bulgaria. 

To replace their ageing electric locomotives of classes 81 to 85 from the early sixties, British Railways ordered a new mixed traffic locomotive in the eighties. The design ultimately selected for production was a four-axle development of the class 87, while the competing six-axle class 89 didn't make it out of the prototype stage. After initial plans to call the new locomotive class 87/2, it was given a the new class number 90 due to the numerous changes compared to the class 87.

The most noticeable difference was the bodyshell that had a completely new design. At 5,000 hp, the power level was the same as in the class 87 and also the traction motors were of basically the same design. But power control was now electronically via Thyristor. A time-division multiplexing system was added to enable double heading and the use of driving trailers. Due to some teething problems, they were nicknamed “Skodas” in reference to similar problems encountered with cars of the Czechoslovak brand being imported to the UK at the same time.

50 locomotives were produced between 1987 and 1990. When BR was sectorised in 1991, half of them were assigned to passenger services and half to freight services. The freight variant was re-geared from 110 mph (177 km/h) to 75 mph (121 km/h), lost its electric train supply equipment and was designated class 90/1.

After privatisation, EWS alone inherited 25 locomotives of both variants. Passenger services were also provided by other private operators like Virgin Trains. When passenger services with the class 90 ended around 2020, a total of 24 locomotives each was now owned by EWS (now DB Cargo UK) and Freightliner. The remaining two were owned by Locomotive Services Limited. DB Cargo UK either stored or scrapped all its locomotives in 2023 due to high energy costs and replaced them with diesel locomotives.

At the end of the 1980s, 40 locomotives were initially ordered for the car shuttles in the Eurotunnel, one of which was to be used at each end of the train. They were developed by the Euroshuttle Locomotive Consortium, which was made up of ABB and Brush Traction. The requirements included ensuring that the large differences in temperature and humidity inside and outside the tunnel did not cause problems.

Three two-axle bogies, each with its own power converter, ensure that two-thirds of the power is still available if one power converter fails. The output was initially 5,600 kW, but was increased to 7,000 kW for the third batch of locomotives. In addition, the unneeded auxiliary driver's cab at the rear end was omitted. These locomotives were intended for truck shuttles, but later a large part of the first batches was also rebuilt to the same power.