History of the Class 90 Locomotive

Introduction This website is dedicated to the British Rail (BR) Class 90s electric locomotive, which were assembled at Crewe Works from 1985 until completion in 1990. The fleet size as built was 50 locomotives strong. Today the serviceable fleet has been reduced to 40 engines (please refer to fleet operations page for more details).For more details on the history of the Class 90, click on the links below which will re-direct you to other webpages and/or PDF fact sheets such as names carried by Class 90s.

Technical Data The class 90s were built as 4 axle Bo-Bo type of locomotives with GEC designed engines and Thyristor control (see table) and were built in Crewe by BREL under contract to GEC from 1985 to 1990. See link below for more information on the technical capabilities of the BR Class 90 Electric locomotive.

Nameplates This section of the site details all the names ever applied to the class 90s. The latest PDF nameplate document was last updated on the 11/5/24 following the decision by DB Cargo to sell 10 Class 90s to scrap merchants and a further two engines to Freightliner.

Naming Facts Over the years, nameplates on Class 90s have come and gone, often not replaced. This fact sheet outlines all known 90s that have been named, de-named or even re-named and includes dates; locations and engine number. PDF document last updated 11/5/24 and reflects the demise of certain DB Cargo Class 90s :-(

Liveries The class 90s have featured 32 different liveries during their 35 year history. The newest livery to be applied to a Class 90 was the Malcolm Logistics colour scheme celebrating 100 years of the operator, which has been applied to 90021 - this was the last class 90 sporting First Scotrail livery too.

Other fun facts This section brings together other facts about the Class 90 fleet which is not covered elsewhere and includes depot open day visits, off- the beaten-track, historic milestones and rare workings on the UK network. This part of the website is currently working progress.

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