First of the Class 90 electrics scrapped with more to follow

Some 37 years after the first Class 90 25kV AC electric locomotive was accepted into traffic by British Rail, a start is being made on scrapping withdrawn examples of the class.

90022 now holds the dubious distinction of being the first of the 50-strong fleet to be broken up, when it was dismantled on July 9/10. Next in line for scrapping was 90038.

It is one of eight ‘90s’ that was sold to Sandbach Dismantlers, along with 90017/023/027/030/ 031/033/038 which are all set to follow in being broken up. Additionally, 90025/031 were sold to European Metal Recycling and are also likely to be scrapped.

Of the other 40 Class 90s, 25 are in use with Freightliner, two are with Locomotive Services Limited, DB Cargo has 12 for sale, and one (90050) is preserved as a static exhibit.

90022 was new in January 1989 and was one of the first 25 locomotives painted in InterCity colours, despite it actually being a Railfreight Distribution locomotive from new. It received a Railfreight Distribution livery in August 1992.

It was named Freightconnection at an event at Crewe on August 26 1992, at which three classmates were all repainted into the liveries of European rail partners - 90128 in Belgium’s SNCB turquoise and yellow, 90129 into Germany’s DB red, and 90130 into France’s SNCF grey and orange. They were named Vrachtverbinding, Frachtverbindungen and Fretconnection respectively.

In September 1996, 90022 was painted into European RfD livery, which was its last livery.

Along with all RfD assets, it was owned by EWS since 1997. It was withdrawn in September 2006 after just 17 years of traffic, and was dumped at Crewe IEMD until sold for scrap in 2024.

90016-040 passed into EWS ownership in 1996-97, but the fleet was steadily run down by the company from January 2004 until the last were withdrawn in July 2024. DB Cargo stated they were too expensive to operate compared with diesel traction.