​Virgin turns to Class 90 to help out on East Coast

Virgin Trains has announced that it will be hiring a Class 90 locomotive from DB Cargo from September for an indefinite period. The locomotive will be based at Bounds Green depot in North London to provide cover for the Class 91 fleet. It will be restricted to the Kings Cross - Newark Northgate services due to its lower maximum speed of 110mph.
“The Class 91 is one of the railway industry’s hardest working locomotives, more so in the last year given the extra services we have introduced since the start of our franchise,” explained Peter Cooling, Head of Fleet Delivery for Virgin Trains on the east coast. “With the added workload we just wanted some extra insurance which the Class 90 will provide to help maintain service reliability.”