Class 88 Locomotive

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In January 2012, Direct Rail Services announced that it had ordered a total of 15 new diesel locomotives from Vossloh España (now Stadler Rail). These locomotives, which entered service in the UK as Class 68, were part of Vossloh's Eurolight family, redesigned to fit the smaller UK loading gauge.

In September 2013, DRS announced that it was procuring a further ten locomotives. Unlike the Class 68s, these new units would be electro-diesel locomotives, capable of operating either via OHLE, or by using an onboard diesel engine. However, the new locomotives would feature the same bodyshell, cab, brakes, bogies, traction equipment and control software as the Class 68. The new locomotives were announced as being Class 88.

The first locomotive, no. 88 002, was delivered to the UK via the Port of Southampton and was transferred by road to Carlisle in January 2017.They entered service in July 2017.

The Class 88 is part of the Stadler Euro Dual family. This is a range of dual mode locomotives that are fitted both with a pantograph, to collect electricity from overhead wires, and a Caterpillar diesel engine. The UK version is able to run either on electrified lines using the pantograph, which is the UK's standard OHLE current at 25kV AC, or away from electrified lines with the Caterpillar C27 950 hp (710 kW) engine. Dual mode locomotives have been mooted for freight use in the UK, using the "Last Mile" principle, where a primarily electric locomotive is fitted with a small diesel engine to allow locomotives to run without a load to unelectrified freight sidings. However, the Class 88 is a fully dual mode locomotive, with the diesel engine powerful enough to haul a train on its own, although with only 20% of the power in electric mode.The Class 88s is the first dual mode locomotives in the UK to use the 25kV AC electrification, as the only other electro-diesel locomotives to have entered service on the British network were the Class 73 and Class 74, which operated in the Southern Region using third rail electrification.