DIRECT Rail Services’ intention to divest itself of its Class 37 fleet, while retaining use of a certain number of the 60-year-old ‘heritage’ machines on a daily basis, has proved to be a difficult contract to finalise.
The company had planned to sell 10 of its remaining 12 English Electric Type 3s, Nos. 37218, 37401, 37402, 37407, 37419, 37422, 37423, 37424, 37425 and 37716, under a two-year ‘wet lease’ agreement. This would have lasted until at least the end of Network Rail’s CP6 delivery plan, which ends in March 2024, and would have placed the responsibility on the new owner for keeping a contracted number of the maintenance-intensive locomotives in service on a given day, likely with penalties if this target was not met.
While DRS has not officially commented on their withdrawal from sale, it is now expected that the operator will retain the 10 Class 37s – with was also postponed, although long-stored XSDP pool No. 37602 has reportedly since been acquired by HNRC. The other two locomotives, both currently in the active XHSO fleet, may be relisted for sale in due course.
