founder gb railways headquarters london england key people john smith managing director services freight operating company owner eurotunnel group parent europorte website www.gbrailfreight.com gb railfreight 1 is a rail freight company in the united kingdom . it is owned by europorte a subsidiary of eurotunnel . contents 1 history 2 fleet 2.1 fleet details 3 references 4 external links history edit class 66 in first gbrf livery at doncaster station in september 2007 first gbrf logo gb railfreight was founded in 1999 by gb railways . 2 unlike competitors db schenker and freightliner the company was not formed from parts of the privatised british rail freight sectors . in april 2000 after winning an eight year contract to operate infrastructure trains for railtrack gb railfreight ordered seven class 66 locomotives . 3 4 an operator s licence was granted in july 2000 . 5 operations commenced on 1 april 2001 . 6 in february 2002 gbrf commenced operating its first intermodal container contract from the port of felixstowe for msc mendite . 7 also in 2002 gbrf began its first bulk freight contract for british gypsum . 8 in august 2003 gb railways was purchased by firstgroup and gb railfreight was rebranded first gbrf . 9 10 11 in april 2004 gb railfreight commenced operating a five year contract for network rail with four gatwick express class 73 locomotives . 12 in may 2005 first gbrf began operating royal mail services using class 325s . 13 14 this was later extended until 2010 . 15 16 also in 2005 gbrf commenced operating london underground infrastructure trains for metronet . 8 17 in march 2007 first gbrf commenced operating coal trains for drax group and edf energy . 18 19 20 21 in june 2007 the business was renamed first gbrf . 22 23 in 2009 first gbrf was granted a passenger licence allowing it to operate charter services . 24 between december 2009 and july 2010 first gbrf operated passenger services under contract to first great western . the services from cardiff central to taunton operated with hired virgin trains class 57 3s hauling mark 2 carriages . 25 26 27 in may 2010 firstgroup put the business up for sale . eurotunnel freightliner and sncf were reported as being interested in the company . 28 the company was purchased by europorte a subsidiary of eurotunnel on 1 june 2010 . 29 30 following the acquisition by europorte the company reverted to its original name and a revised version of the original livery . in february 2011 gbrf commenced operation of rail traffic at cardiff tidal tremorfa works . 31 32 in 2012 gbrf commenced a ten year contract to operate the 43 mile rail network at sahavirirya steel industries lackenby steelworks teesside . 33 in april 2015 gb railfreight commenced a contract to haul the caledonian sleeper . class 92s haul it from london euston to edinburgh waverley glasgow central with rebuilt class 73 9s to haul it from edinburgh to aberdeen inverness and fort william . 34 until the latter are completed class 67s continue to operate the latter services . gb railfreight have also won a contract to haul class 800 801s . this will involve gbrf providing crews for the testing of the trains as well as hauling the sets . 35 36 fleet edit class 66 at king s cross station in september 2004 to commence operations seven class 66 7s were ordered . 37 subsequent orders brought the total purchased to 72 by the end of 2014 38 with a further seven due in 2016 . in october 2012 . three unused class 66s ordered by crossrail benelux but stabled in the netherlands were purchased and later in 2013 a further two class 66s that were previously in service in europe were also obtained . 39 gb railways had purchased six former gatwick express class 73s . after gbrf won a contract to operate network rail infrastructure trains in the south east four were overhauled by frangonset railways . 40 gb railfreight has 16 class 92 locomotives acquired by europorte before the purchase of gb railfreight . 41 gb railfreight has also utilised heritage diesel locomotives . class 20s are used on london underground s stock moves between derby litchurch lane old dalby test track and london underground s neasden depot . it hires these from various owners including harry needle railroad company . since mid 2014 five class 47s have been hired from riviera trains . 42 43 it has also hired in preserved locomotives including 55022 and d1015 . 44 45 46 47 48 49 gb railfreight also has a pair of refurbished vanguard 0 6 0dh locos re numbered dh50 1 and dh50 2 for use at tremorfa cardiff tidal works . 50 to operate services on the lackenby steelworks teesside network eight 1996 97 built maschinenbau kiel built locomotives were purchased from norwegian state railways . they were classed as di8 . 33 in august 2014 gbrf purchased 59003 from heavy haul power international germany . 51 52 in 2015 it was confirmed a further seven class 66s would be purchased . even though the locomotive type no longer conforms with emissions regulations gb railfreight had purchased some spare emd 710 engines shipped them to the united kingdom before the 31 december 2014 deadline and then returned them to the united states for fitting to the new locomotives to be delivered in 2016 . 53 54 fleet details edit class image type built number wheel arr numbers class 08 shunter 1953 2 0 6 0 08925 08934 class 09 shunter 1959 2 0 6 0 09002 09009 class 20 diesel locomotive 1957 68 11 bo bo 20096 107 118 132 311 314 901 905 on hire from hnrc . 901 & 905 in gbrf livery . class 47 diesel locomotive 1962 68 5 co co 47812 815 843 847 848 on hire from hnrc . class 59 diesel locomotive 1985 1 co co 59003 yeoman highlander purchased from heavy haul power international germany 51 52 class 66 diesel locomotive 2002 14 78 co co 66701 733 735 779 66734 since scrapped . class 73 electro diesel locomotive 1966 22 bo bo 73107 109 119 128 136 141 73201 212 213 961 971 class 92 electric locomotive 1993 16 co co 92006 010 014 018 020 021 023 028 032 033 038 040 043 046 vanguard 0 6 0dh diesel locomotive 2011 2 dh50 1 dh50 2 references edit companies house extract company no 3707899 gb railfreight limited schabas michael october 2003 . memorandum by gb railfreight . hansard report . retrieved 18 october 2012 . gbr orders 66 fleet for railtrack contract rail issue 382 3 may 2000 page 5 gb rail signs freight contract with railtrack the railway magazine issue 1190 june 2000 page 10 gb railfreight given licence rail issue 388 26 july 2000 page 4 gb railfreight signs deal with west coast traincare rail issue 406 4 april 2001 page 13 gbrf starts container service to selby the railway magazine issue 1212 april 2002 page 95 a b making sure the mail on rail doesn t fail rail issue 609 14 january 2009 page 50 gb rail offer unconditional . corporate news press release . firstgroup plc. 14 august 2003 . retrieved 18 october 2012 . first group buys gb for 22million the railway magazine issue 1229 september 2003 page 10 gb railways is bought by first group for 22 million rail express issue 88 september 2003 page 8 network rail hands gbrf more work class 73s acquired wagons bought rail express issue 94 march 2004 page 8 mail to move by rail again . gb railfreight news press release . 18 october 2004 . retrieved 18 october 2012 . mail back on rail gbrf wins postal contract the railway magazine issue 1244 december 2004 page 4 gb railfreight wins royal mail contract . gb railfreight news press release . 20 may 2005 . retrieved 18 october 2012 . firstgbrf wins new contact sic with royal mail . gb railfreight news press release . 15 june 2007 . retrieved 18 october 2012 . welcome back finedon road yard rail express issue 122 july 2006 page 3 gbrf wins first coal contract today s railways issue 54 july 2006 page 15 gb railfreight expands into coal rail express issue 122 july 2006 page 7 gbrf enters coal market the railway magazine issue 1264 august 2006 page 6 gbrf aims to be first for freight rail issue 603 22 october 2008 pages 38 42 more new locos and wagons ordered as gb railfreight becomes firstgbrf rail express issue 134 july 2007 page 7 gb railfreight becomes firstgbrf the railway magazine issue 1276 august 2007 page 76 gbrf expands operations with charter trips rail issue 645 2 june 2010 page 34 first great western taunton trains first gbrf takes over on fgw taunton diagram rail express issue 164 january 2010 page 7 first gbrf to operate fgw contract the railway magazine issue 1306 february 2010 page 61 barnard bruce 3 may 2010 . european rivals bid for gb railfreight . the journal of commerce . retrieved 18 october 2012 . eurotunnel buys gb railfreight from firstgroup . railway gazette . 1 june 2010 . retrieved 18 october 2012 . eurotunnel buys gbrf the railway magazine issue 1312 august 2010 page 10 bray martin 14 december 2011 . cardiff tidal sidings . tidal margam & canton . retrieved 18 october 2012 . gb railfreight takes over at cardiff tidal yard rail express issue 179 april 2011 page 50 a b gbrf buys norwegian locos for steelworks . the railway magazine 1329 85 . january 2012 . the sleepers are stirring rail issue 756 3 september 2014 page 70 gbrf wins iep test contract for class 800 801 trains . the railway magazine 1351 80 . november 2013 . iep trains to undergo night testing on east coast line . rail 738 16 . 25 december 2013 . gb railways class 66s the railway magazine issue 1188 april 2000 page 11 gbrf welcomes the first five of 21 new 66s onto uk soil rail issue 753 23 july 2014 page 28 gbrf to bring trio of euro 66s to britain the railway magazine issue 1340 december 2012 page 11 new lease of life for gb railways class 73s the railway magazine issue 1236 april 2004 page 67 gbrf spends 50m on new class 66 7s and class 92s rail issue 741 5 february 2014 page 6 more riviera trains 47s lined up for gbrf duties rail issue 750 11 june 2014 page 28 three 47s on hire to gbrf today s railways issue 152 august 2014 page 62 gb railfreight hires 55022 royal scots grey 10 april 2011 deltic joins gbrf fleet the railway magazine issue 1322 june 2011 page 9 gbrf hires deltic to haul emus rail issue 722 page 15 may 2013 page 35 gbrf hires a western to haul midlands freight the railway magazine issue 1353 december 2013 page 7 first a deltic now a western for gbrf today s railways issue 145 january 2014 page 61 d1015 to stay with gbrf railways illustrated february 2014 page 8 trotter phil . industrial diesel & electric locomotives photo gallery annotation . retrieved 18 october 2012 . gbrf s dh50 1 to replace ageing class 08s here with reconditioned industrial locomotives ; as rebuild no. 9376 of 2011 . a b gb railfreight brings hardy yeoman highlander back to the uk gb railfreight 19 august 2014 a b yeoman highlander to return to the uk rail express 20 august 2014 more class 66s for gb railfreight to arrive next year rail issue 764 24 december 2014 page 15 loophole sees gbrf order another seven 66s today s railways issue 158 february 2015 page 54 external links edit media related to gb railfreight at wikimedia commons official website v t e rail