Class 37 exports
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.