Ordered in 1985, the Class 91 was a joint venture between GEC, Brush and ASEA to deliver a fleet of 140 mph tilting electric locomotives for the East Coast Main Line. Delivered between 1988 and 1991, the thirty-one locomotives ply their trade daily from London to the North East and Scotland. Accompanied by Metro-Cammell's Mark 4 coaches, they formed British Rail's flagship 'Intercity 225' programme. While the 225s never tilted nor reached their full speed, for nearly thirty years they have conveyed thousands of passengers each day along the ECML.
Today, the Class 91s and Mark 4s are approaching the end of their working lives. Once Hitachi's Class 800 Intercity Express trains are delivered, a small handful of Class 91s will work with shortened Mark 4 sets on non-stop services. The majority of the fleet faces an uncertain future, with no clear plans for redeployment elsewhere. This book looks at these East Coast workhorses, which have followed in the footsteps of Gresley's famous Pacific locomotives, the Deltics and HSTs.
