British Rail Class 90

The British Rail Class 90 is a mixed-traffic electric locomotive that draws 25 kV AC from overhead wires and is rated at 5,000 brake horsepower, about 3,700 kilowatts. It weighs 84.5 tonnes and can typically reach 110 miles per hour. It began as a modernised development of the Class 87 and was first designated the Class 87/2. During the 1980s British Rail Engineering Limited offered to build a small batch to replace ageing electric classes such as the 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85, and its proposal was chosen over rivals that included the InterCity 225 and the Class 89. The locomotives were built by BREL at Crewe Works between 1987 and 1990. They entered service in the last years of British Rail on passenger and freight trains alike, and after privatisation they ran for several operators, including Abellio Greater Anglia, Virgin Trains West Coast and Great North Eastern Railway. Passenger work shrank in the 2000s and 2010s, and the class now mostly hauls heavy freight and occasional charters.