#4658
British Rail Class 90
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by British Rail Engineering Limited· from 1987· class of 50 electric locomotives
9 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 90001 Crewe 1987: Black Kite at English Wikipedia· Public domain
- 2. Freightliner 90047 at Edinburgh Waverley: Andrewrabbott· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. 009 and 048 Class 90 Freightliner Units Stopped At Red Signal: LadyJetA1· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. Class 90 90018 DB Schenker JP Euxton 14 Oct 16: RuthAS· CC BY 4.0
- 5. Class 90 on the Colne Valley Viaduct: kitmasterbloke· CC BY 2.0
- 6. Tony with RFD Class 90 May 1994: kitmasterbloke· CC BY 2.0
- 7. RFD Class 90 with a RES Class 86 and 47 parked at London Kings Cross on 16 March 1996: The Basingstoker· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 8. 90040 at Stafford - 5354196642: Tutenkhamun Sleeping· CC BY 2.0
- 9. 90040 at Stafford: Tutenkhamun Sleeping· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 90 is a type of electric locomotive built for mixed-traffic duties, operating from 25 kV AC overhead lines and producing 5,000 bhp (3,700 kW). It weighs 84.5 tonnes and can typically achieve a top speed of 110 mph (177 km/h). The Class 90 is a modernised derivative of the preceding Class 87 locomotive, having been originally designated as the Class 87/2.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 39 years ago, in 1987.
- Top speed is 1.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 14 minutes.
- 5.9 MW is about 69 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 18.6 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 17 years (1987–2004).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1987–1990
- in service from
- 1987
- retired
- 2004
- status
- in service
- number built
- 50
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- British Rail Engineering Limited, Crewe Works
- operators
- British Rail, DB Cargo UK, Freightliner, InterCity
- top speed
- 177 km/h
- power
- 5.9 MW
- electric system
- 25 kV AC Catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 18.6 m
- weight
- 84.5 t
- nicknames
- Skoda
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q2401812, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 90 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.