Historic moment for the UK Rail Industry as GB Railfreight names last ever Class 66 Evening Star
Today (10th May), during a ceremony at the National Railway Museum in York, GB Railfreight unveiled the name and livery of locomotive 66779, the last Class 66 to be built for the UK and European markets.
GBRf has named locomotive 66779 Evening Star and it has been liveried in lined passenger express brunswick green, in commemoration of the last steam locomotive of the same name to have been built by Swindon Works for British Railways in 1960.
This is a significant moment for the industry. The Class 66s have made a major contribution to UK rail freight, transforming reliability since their introduction in 1998. In recognition of these achievements, GBRf has promised to donate 66779 to the National Railway Museum National Heritage Committee at the end of its working life, to be preserved for the benefit of the public.
The event is also a celebration of 15 years of operations for GBRf. Starting off with just two employees and an infrastructure contract with Railtrack in 2001, the freight operator now employs over 650 staff, operates over 1,000 train loads each week for clients across the energy, aggregates, intermodal and infrastructure markets, and generates annual turnover in excess of £130m.
We've been joined by over 200 guests from across industry, government and the media for the ceremony. GBRf Managing Director John Smith and Progress Rail Services and Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) CEO Billy Ainsworth delivered speeches before 66779 was unveiled.
66779 is the last of seven locomotives (66773 66779) that were procured from EMD and that arrived in the UK in February of this year. In addition to the 21 Class 66s that arrived in the UK last year, they bring the operators Class 66 fleet to 78 locomotives. Given their heavy freight capabilities, the 28 locomotives will be used to support operations across various GBRf market portfolios.
