GBRf Class 99 - 30 locomotives now ordered

[hwl]

Software change and bogie damper change to get them up to 100mph, according to Bob Tiller.

It wasn't clear if this electronically limits the loco's starting tractive effort though. Not sure if anyone could clarify that as I don't see why this wouldn't have been done from factory if there wasn't some downside.

Source:

(timestamp: 4:58)

All the modern locos apart from 66s from the 92s onwards have electronically limited tractive effort curves at low speeds hence why they probably thought that there was no reason to clarify? There wouldn't be any change to these low speed limits though as increasing the maximum speed involves no gearing change.

 

[Harlequinuk]

Slightly off topic, but i remember reading that when the 92 was being developed it was also looked at 160kmh as the top end, but the bogie design would have meant increased costs and more delays so it tops out at the 140kmh of today

 

[absolutelymilk]

So a whole 7mph faster?

To be fair 80 -> 87mph would save 24 minutes on a 400 mile trip (roughly London to Glasgow)

 

[Spaceship323]

You don't want to save any minutes, especially on the lowlander... the passengers would have less sleep. What's this obsession with making the sleeper faster?

 

[92002]

You don't want to save any minutes, the passengers would have less sleep

Would make a lot of sense to find a Standard Gauge line and deliver a number at a time through the tunnel.

 

[wickham]

I saw 99004 today whilst on Line 10 of the Barcelona metro. It's currently in the port awaiting shipping.

Now this IS interesting, but I wonder what has happened to 99003. It will be seen that 99004 is on a road transporter, so I guess the whole thing will be driven aboard a ro-ro ship and driven off again at Portbury.

 

[Class15]

I saw 99004 today whilst on Line 10 of the Barcelona metro. It's currently in the port awaiting shipping.

Very interesting - was this a planned spot or just coincidence?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Nov 2025 ==

GBRf has already advised that there will be a ’99/4’ subfleet with ETH fitted. Ostensibly for use on Belmond’s Britannic Explorer charter train.

Is it confirmed they will be 99/4? I don’t think the 37s and 47s being /4s with ETH necessarily means that the same would happen decades later with a totally different type of locomotive?

 

[Harlequinuk]

Historically also been the 27/2 and 45/1 for ETH versions

 

[bideford1]

Now this IS interesting, but I wonder what has happened to 99003. It will be seen that 99004 is on a road transporter, so I guess the whole thing will be driven aboard a ro-ro ship and driven off again at Portbury.

There was a ro-ro ship next to it which is currently heading to the UK according to Marine Traffic. Assuming it is now on that one and not waiting for another then that would be the ship 'Asian Dynasty'.

Very interesting - was this a planned spot or just coincidence?

Nope, I was in Barcelona for other rail-related business, but the Class 99 was just a coincidence.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Now this IS interesting, but I wonder what has happened to 99003. It will be seen that 99004 is on a road transporter, so I guess the whole thing will be driven aboard a ro-ro ship and driven off again at Portbury.

There was a ro-ro ship next to it which is currently heading to the UK according to Marine Traffic. Assuming it is now on that one and not waiting for another then that would be the ship 'Asian Dynasty'.

Is it possible that 99 003 might already be on the same ship?

 

[99009]

Yes 4Q43 ran last night.

Realtime Trains | 4Q43 0130 Millerhill S.S. to Peterborough North Yd Gbrf | 13/11/2025

Real-time train running information for 4Q43 0130 departure from Millerhill S.S. to Peterborough North Yd Gbrf on 13/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

The 99s did the Prestonpans move again last night to get back from Waverley to Millerhill.

I watched on Traksy to see them arrive at Millerhill, where they ran through the yard and attached to the north end of 4Q42, which was activated on RTT and the 3 locos allocated. Therefore it looked like 4Q42 would be running although an hour late. That code didn’t appear on Traksy and it eventually got cancelled on RTT, so they possibly did try to run it but encountered problems again.

This poses the question, did 69003 lead 4Q43 all the way from Millerhill to Peterborough, or was shunting done to get the 99s on the south end before departure?

I've had a look at all this over the past couple of hours and made the following conclusion.

4Q38 on 11/11/25 was 99001+99002+wagons+69003 in that order. Therefore, after the 69 dragged the 99's back to Millerhill, the 69 was facing towards Edinburgh and 99001 was the loco closest to the south on arrival at Millerhill at 23:10.

0Q42 Millerhill - Edinburgh on 12/11/25 ran via the booked route. This means 99002 probably led 99001 throughout and after changing ends at Abbeyhill Jn the locos are now turned around, so 99002 was the loco closest to the south stabled at Edinburgh on 12th November 2025, the opposite way around to the previous day and photos in this thread.

0Q42 Edinburgh - Millerhill on 12/11/25 ran via Prestonpans UPL. This means the locos weren't turned on arrival at Millerhill yard and 99002 was still the loco closest to the south on arrival at Millerhill at 22:00.

But 99001 led 4Q43 south and not 99002, so how is that possible when 99002 was the loco closest to the south? The clue, I believe, is what the 0Q42 schedule below now shows.

Realtime Trains | 0Q42 2007 Edinburgh to Millerhill S.S. | 12/11/2025

Real-time train running information for 0Q42 2007 departure from Edinburgh to Millerhill S.S. on 12/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

This schedule now shows times of Niddrie West Jn 00:33, Haymarket 00:47, Edinburgh 00:50 and Niddrie North Jn 00:57 when it didn't before. Because of this I believe that at these times the locos were turned with 99001 leading the way throughout and they even passed the not route cleared Brunstane at around 00:55. This meant the 99's arrived back in Millerhill yard at around 01:00 with 99001 now the loco closest to the south ready to work 4Q43 south.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Nov 2025 ==

I saw 99004 today whilst on Line 10 of the Barcelona metro. It's currently in the port awaiting shipping.

Great to see another one should be with us soon, cheers for posting and what a lucky find!

 

[Tony2]

I've had a look at all this over the past couple of hours and made the following conclusion.

4Q38 on 11/11/25 was 99001+99002+wagons+69003 in that order. Therefore, after the 69 dragged the 99's back to Millerhill, the 69 was facing towards Edinburgh and 99001 was the loco closest to the south on arrival at Millerhill at 23:10.

0Q42 Millerhill - Edinburgh on 12/11/25 ran via the booked route. This means 99002 probably led 99001 throughout and after changing ends at Abbeyhill Jn the locos are now turned around, so 99002 was the loco closest to the south stabled at Edinburgh on 12th November 2025, the opposite way around to the previous day and photos in this thread.

0Q42 Edinburgh - Millerhill on 12/11/25 ran via Prestonpans UPL. This means the locos weren't turned on arrival at Millerhill yard and 99002 was still the loco closest to the south on arrival at Millerhill at 22:00.

But 99001 led 4Q43 south and not 99002, so how is that possible when 99002 was the loco closest to the south? The clue, I believe, is what the 0Q42 schedule below now shows.

Realtime Trains | 0Q42 2007 Edinburgh to Millerhill S.S. | 12/11/2025

Real-time train running information for 0Q42 2007 departure from Edinburgh to Millerhill S.S. on 12/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

This schedule now shows times of Niddrie West Jn 00:33, Haymarket 00:47, Edinburgh 00:50 and Niddrie North Jn 00:57 when it didn't before. Because of this I believe that at these times the locos were turned with 99001 leading the way throughout and they even passed the not route cleared Brunstane at around 00:55. This meant the 99's arrived back in Millerhill yard at around 01:00 with 99001 now the loco closest to the south ready to work 4Q43 south.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Nov 2025 ==


Great to see another one should be with us soon, cheers for posting and what a lucky find!

Well spotted, I hadn’t realised the 99s had gone back out after I’d given up.

Interesting that that revised 0Q42 schedule implies the 99s have run via Brunstane to get back into Millerhill! I’m wondering if a dispensation was granted for this one move, or if authorisation was sought and given after the routing problems the day before, or if the schedule isn’t accurate. I suppose we will never know as I doubt anyone was out at Brunstane at that time!

 

[absolutelymilk]

You don't want to save any minutes, especially on the lowlander... the passengers would have less sleep. What's this obsession with making the sleeper faster?

You would if there was disruption, both for passengers and presumably also so there's less impact on other services

 

[99009]

Some daylight runs (testing something?) between Leicester and Bedford might take place tomorrow (Wednesday).

0Q50 Leicester - Leicester via Bedford:

Realtime Trains | 0Q50 1019 Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. | 19/11/2025

Real-time train running information for 0Q50 1019 departure from Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. on 19/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

0Q51 Leicester - Leicester via Bedford:

Realtime Trains | 0Q51 1132 Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. | 19/11/2025

Real-time train running information for 0Q51 1132 departure from Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. on 19/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

0Q52 Leicester - Leicester via Wellingborough and NOT Bedford:

Realtime Trains | 0Q52 1531 Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. | 19/11/2025

Real-time train running information for 0Q52 1531 departure from Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. on 19/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Note that 0Q50 and 0Q51 timings overlap, so the only way both schedules can run is if these runs are 99001 and 99002 are on their own. Both 0Q50 and 0Q51 get back to Leicester before 0Q52 starts. So, assuming all 3 schedules are planned to run, I'll take a guess at 0Q50 and 0Q51 being the 99's on their own and 0Q52 being both of them together.

Separate to the above, assuming 99004 (with classmates?) is indeed aboard ship "Asian Dynasty" after being seen in Barcelona, then that ship currently has an ETA to arrive at Bristol (no idea if Portbury or Avonmouth) at 22:30 today.

ASIAN DYNASTY, Vehicles Carrier - Details and current position - IMO 9203588 - VesselFinder

Vessel ASIAN DYNASTY (IMO 9203588, MMSI 440058000) is a Vehicles Carrier built in 1999 and currently sailing under the flag of Korea.

www.vesselfinder.com

 

[JKF]

Asian Dynasty is currently approaching the Bristol Channel, so I suspect it will arrive earlier than the scheduled time above. The Port of Bristol website has it booked in for 08:00 this morning which seems unlikely! Should be unloading at Berth 3.

I’ve not spotted any potential moves on the Portbury line yet, they might be boring and take it out on a lorry as has been the trend from Portbury in the last couple of years.

 

[800001]

Lead to believe 99004 has docked at Portbury.

 

[wickham]

Lead to believe 99004 has docked at Portbury.

Reported elsewhere that this shipment is two locomotives, 99003 and 99004, but we will see what comes off the ship !

 

[londonmidland]

99001 and 002 are currently working 0Q51 1132 Leicester L.I.P. to Leicester L.I.P. via Bedford.

 

[45076]

WNXX reports that 003 and 004 are on the dockside in Spain.
Class 99s...
99003 & 99004 (both MBEL) have been noted on the quayside at Barcelona, awaiting shipping to the UK. The anticipated arrival date into the UK via Portbury Docks has been brought forward from the 28th to the 26th - subject to getting the locomotives loaded and on their way before this weekend

 

[Trainman40083]

WNXX reports that 003 and 004 are on the dockside in Spain.
Class 99s...
99003 & 99004 (both MBEL) have been noted on the quayside at Barcelona, awaiting shipping to the UK. The anticipated arrival date into the UK via Portbury Docks has been brought forward from the 28th to the 26th - subject to getting the locomotives loaded and on their way before this weekend

I thought an earlier post suggested it was at Port bury, Bristol.

 

[45076]

I thought an earlier post suggested it was at Port bury, Bristol.

Me too, which is why I've raised this on here.

 

[99009]

If you're talking about my posts, I got that from the initial post in this topic back on page 38. I never said it was for certain, hence the word "assuming" near the final sentence of post #1154.

Today I've seen a photo that was taken a couple of days ago of 2 99's on trailers side by side at Barcelona port. This makes me now believe 99004 is still there and that 99003 has joined it.

The best way to know is if we have any members local to the Barcelona metro who can take a look at the port as the metro goes by!

 

[43096]

I thought an earlier post suggested it was at Port bury, Bristol.

Because someone saw a 99 next to a ship and assumed it was going on that ship. Putting 2 + 2 in this case looks like it was 42.

There has been no confirmation that the loco(s) were on the "Asian Dynasty".

 

[45076]

If you're talking about my posts, I got that from the initial post in this topic back on page 38. I never said it was for certain, hence the word "assuming" near the final sentence of post #1154.

Today I've seen a photo that was taken a couple of days ago of 2 99's on trailers side by side at Barcelona port. This makes me now believe 99004 is still there and that 99003 has joined it.

The best way to know is if we have any members local to the Barcelona metro who can take a look at the port as the metro goes by!

Fair point, well made.

 

[Trainman40083]

Because someone saw a 99 next to a ship and assumed it was going on that ship. Putting 2 + 2 in this case looks like it was 42.

There has been no confirmation that the loco(s) were on the "Asian Dynasty".

Good response. Had people tracking the ship ..

 

[JKF]

Arriving at Portbury from Barcelona next week (Thursday 00:01 according to the Port of Bristol website) is the vessel HOEGH AURORA, so that will be the one to keep an eye on!

 

[PJM]

WNXX
99003 & 99004 (both MBEL) have been loaded at Barcelona and have set sail to the UK from Spain. They are on board the Nereus Highway which left the Port of Barcelona at 21:46 on the 21st. The ship is (currently) booked to arrive at the Port of Bristol (Portbury) by 12:00 on the 26th.

 

[87electric]

Arriving at Portbury from Barcelona next week (Thursday 00:01 according to the Port of Bristol website) is the vessel HOEGH AURORA, so that will be the one to keep an eye on!

No, wrong vessel.
WNXX for the reliable news.

 

[800001]

No, wrong vessel.
WNXX for the reliable news.

So which vessel is it then? Do share the info if you are saying post above is wrong.

 

[Korot]

PJM, just 2 posts above yours in #1167, gave the answer:

They are on board the Nereus Highway