DRS seeks diesel-electrics for freight and passenger work

Direct Rail Services wants ten new mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotives.

The operator issued an OJEU (Official Journal of European Union) notice on September 16 for locomotives. The deal is estimated at £53 million.

The contract notice calls for the design, building, testing, homologation and commissioning of locomotives that can be used for freight and passenger duties. It is expected that any deal could include the provision of maintenance and servicing, technical support, spares supply and financing.

Expressions of interested must be delivered by 1200 on October 20, and the scheduled start date for award procedures is October 23.

In the notice details, the company states that to “meet longterm parent body and customer transport objectives, DRS has a requirement to enhance its existing fleet by procuring ten mixed traffic diesel electric locomotives for operation on freight and passenger services on the UK Rail network for service introduction Quarter 3 2019”.

DRS has recently taken delivery of the 34th and final Class 68 from Stadler. Ten dual-mode Class 88s have also recently been delivered to the UK, although so far they have only one booked duty.

The company still uses Class 20s and Class 37s that date from the 1960s. However, the former are likely to be withdrawn following the autumn railhead treatment train operations, while the number of ‘37s’ in traffic is declining and the company has hinted there will be sales.

It is understood that Class 57s are also expected to be withdrawn after the RHTT season.