GB Railfreight names Class 66 after former RAIL editor Nigel Harris

GB Railfreight named a Class 66 after former RAIL editor Nigel Harris as King's Cross station on November 4.

Harris was invited by GBRf CEO John Smith to unveil his name on the side of 66312, one of the latest batch of 16 locomotives recently imported from Europe and converted for use by GBRf in the UK.

Smith highlighted Nigel’s contribution to the rail industry in his near three decades editing the magazine from 1995 to 2023. Mr Harris said: “I always associated locomotive naming with racehorses or regiments, not myself” and that he was “pleased it was a freight locomotive” being named after him and it “would be strange when he sees it next on the network, bearing my name.”

In attendance were former colleagues, columnists and RAIL contributors past and present, and a number of industry stakeholders including former Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority Richard Bowker, former Transport Minster Huw Merriman, MD of Freightliner Tim Shoveller, former MD of Network SouthEast and Virgin Trains Chris Green and former HM Chief Inspector of Railways and Director of Railway Safety at Office of Rail Regulation, Ian Prosser.