A new bi-mode freight locomotive is to be unveiled this week, which is forecast to reduce emissions by as much as 58 per cent and is being described as a ‘game changer’.

The Class 99 machines are being built by Stadler and funded by Beacon Rail for GB Railfreight, which hopes to see the first locomotive arrive from Valencia in the spring of next year and to have the full fleet of 30 by the end of 2026. The deal also includes a 16-year service contract.

The 99s are fitted with AWS and TPWS, and Stadler said ETCS would be installed ‘soon’.

GBRf said its new machines will be the first heavy-haul freight locomotives capable of moving significant volumes on both electrified and non-electrified sections. Their maximum speed is 120km/h (75mph).

The lack of strategic electrification on some freight routes, like the line to Felixstowe, has been seen as hampering the rail freight industry, which tends as a result to use diesels like Class 66s throughout, even if a large proportion of the journey is on electrified sections.

GBRf chief executive John Smith said: ‘Rail freight has long been the cleanest, safest and most efficient way of transporting goods and the Class 99s are a game-changing moment for the industry. These locomotives offer our customers the chance to run faster, wholly sustainable, heavy-haul services across length and breadth of the country.’

Stadler Valencia CEO Iñigo Parra said the Class 99 is a ‘game changer’ which will ‘encourage modal shift from road to rail’.

The new locomotive will be exhibited at InnoTrans in Berlin on Wednesday.