Class 68 and Class 88 Locomotives

In 2012, Direct Rail Services (DRS) placed an order with Vossloh (now Stadler Rail) for its first Class 68 diesel locomotives. The fleet size has now grown to thirty-four. Their later order was for ten Class 88 locomotives, an electro-diesel variant of the Class 68. Since delivery, the 68s have worked alongside the operator’s fleet of ageing, so-called ‘heritage’, locos. With these locos now at their disposal, they are surely destined to be the mainstay of the company’s fleet for some time to come.


In addition to their use as a mixed traffic locomotive for DRS themselves, the company lease these locos to passenger train operators such as Scotrail and Chiltern Railways. Their wide range of duties is covered in this book. Here, John Jackson tracks the first few years of their use on an increasing variety of workings.