British Rail Class 92
The British Rail Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive, which can run on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically to operate services through the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France. Eurotunnel indicates the Class 92 locomotive as the reference for other locomotives which railway undertakings might want to get certified for usage in the Channel tunnel. Locomotives of this type are operated by GB Railfreight/Europorte 2 and DB Cargo UK. In France, a number were also owned and operated by SNCF; these were classified as CC 92000 on French railways. The Class 92 was intended as a mixed-traffic locomotive both for hauling international freight trains and the ill-fated, never introduced Nightstar passenger sleeper trains though the Channel Tunnel. Since introduction, the fleet was exclusively allocated to freight; however, in March 2015, six locomotives owned by GB Railfreight have begun passenger operations hauling the Caledonian Sleeper on behalf of Serco between London and Scotland, marking the first use of the class in commercial passenger service. The fleet of 46 locomotives was built by a consortium of Brush Traction and ABB Traction. Parts construction was sub-contracted, with final construction and commissioning being undertaken at Brush's erecting shops at Loughborough between 1993 and 1996. The first unit was produced from 1992 and finished in April 1993. The bodyshells, of a similar design to Brush's Class 60 diesel locomotives but with a modified front end, were fabricated by Procor Engineering of Horbury and delivered pre-painted in the then-standard Railfreight triple-grey livery. The traction system was provided by ABB and comprises GTO thyristor traction converters and ABB's then-new microprocessor-based MICAS-S2 modular electronic control system. Maximum power is on 25 kV or on 750 V; with a tractive effort of . The locomotive is fitted with both rheostatic and regenerative braking, in addition to standard Westinghouse air brake equipment.
