Rail (UK)

Class 37 exports

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Class 37s haven’t just hauled trains in the UK. In the late 1990s and early 21st century, more than 50 locomotive­s were exported by EWS for commercial contracts in mainland Europe - and not all returned home.

Some were used to haul constructi­on trains during the building of the TGV Méditerran­ée line in southeaste­rn France. They were based at Eurre, hired to SNCF, and operated between St Marcel-les-Valence and Orange (near Marseilles). They started to arrive in June 1999 and began returning to the UK in August the following year.

Forty-two were exported (37010/ 037/ 046/ 058/ 069/ 071/ 073/ 074/ 077, 37100/133/146/ 162/170/196, 37221/238/250/261/293/294/ 298, 37376, 37510/ 513/ 515, 37671/672/685/ 686/693/696, 37708/796, 37800/803/888/ 890/891/894/896). Of those, ten survive today.

In 2001, 14 Class 37/7s (37702/703/714/ 716/718/799, 37800-802/883-885/888/899) were exported to Spain, hired by Gestor de Infraestru­cturas Ferroviari­as (GIF) to haul constructi­on trains for a new MadridBarc­elona high-speed line. They were to operate between Zaragoza and Barcelona and finished their duties in 2007. Five of them (37702, 37802/885/888/899) were scrapped in Spain.

Of the others, 37703/714/716/718 were bought by Direct Rail Services, with 37716 returning to main line duties, 37703/714 planned for super shunter duties that they were later removed from, and 37718 scrapped. Today, 37703 is at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway and 37714 is at the Great Central Railway.

Also back on the main line are 37800/884, owned by Europhoeni­x and hired to Rail Operations Group.

The final ‘37s’ to be exported were 37893/895, which went to southern Italy in July 2001, returning in March 2003. They were initially based at Capua, north of Naples, and hauled constructi­on trains for a high-speed line being built between Naples and Rome.

When that was complete, EWS looked for new opportunit­ies for the pair, found none, and so brought them back to the UK. They have since been scrapped.

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