Background to the French contract

In earlier LGV construction projects, SNCF had usually supplied most of the traction for engineering trains, often using older locomotives which had been stored between projects. During 1999 and 2000, forty-two Class 37s travelled to France to assist with infrastructure trains on the construction of LGV Méditerranée between Valence and Orange, all returning to Britain by 2000.

Following the success of that contract, EWS was keen to secure further overseas work, not only for Class 37s but also for the more modern Class 56s and Class 58s.

For the construction of the new LGV Est high-speed line between Paris and Strasbourg, SNCF provided only a token number of locomotives and instead appointed Fertis to supply traction for ballast trains. Fertis in turn hired forty locomotives from EWS.

The original proposal was to use twenty-four Class 37s, many of which had worked in France before. It was later decided, however, that Class 56s and Class 58s would be better suited to the work. One Type 5 could do the work of a pair of double-heading Class 37s, so EWS selected 26 Class 56s and 14 Class 58s for the main ballast work.

These trains were expected to weigh around 1,800 tonnes when loaded and to work on gradients as severe as 1 in 28, often in top-and-tail formation and sometimes with double-heading. Powerful locomotives were therefore essential.

In addition to the ballast-train requirements, track contractors Seco and Travaux du Sud Ouest (TSO) also needed traction for engineering trains carrying sleepers, rails and other infrastructure materials. Between them they hired a further eight Class 58s, with four allocated to Seco and four to TSO.

The LGV Est project

Work on LGV Est began in spring 2002 and was planned to take five years. By June 2004, around three-quarters of the civil engineering work had been completed, with track laying due to begin towards the end of that year.

The line later opened in 2007. It is approximately 300 km in length, electrified at 25,000V overhead, and designed for very high-speed operation, allowing service speeds of up to 320 km/h and a design capability of 350 km/h.

The route was carefully selected to minimise environmental impact, avoiding major built-up areas and sensitive landscape features such as the important vineyards near Reims.

Preparing the locomotives

With track laying expected to start by the end of 2004, EWS faced a major task in getting forty locomotives operational, repainted and exported in time. Work took place at four depots: Toton, Eastleigh, Old Oak Common and Bristol Barton Hill.

Many of the locomotives had spent months, and in some cases years, in open storage. The preparation programme therefore involved extensive checking, replacement and recertification work.

Fortunately, the Class 56 and Class 58 engines were less prone to water-entry faults than Class 37s. Even so, 58012 was found to have a frost-damaged engine during inspection and was replaced by 58009.

Toton alone had a purpose-built spray paint shop; Eastleigh, Old Oak Common and Barton Hill relied on more traditional hand-painting methods.

Deployment to France

Operating bases on LGV Est

There were three principal construction bases from which the locomotives worked:

Track laying was estimated to proceed at approximately 600 metres per day. As work finished at St Hilaire, staff and locomotives transferred to the other bases and the depot was gradually run down as the lines from the different bases began to connect.

Return to the UK and later years

By late 2006, LGV Est was in its final testing phase and the use of engineering trains was gradually reduced. The Class 56s and 58s then began to return to Britain via the Channel Tunnel.

Most of the Class 56s ended up at Old Oak Common, while the Class 58s largely returned to storage at Eastleigh.

The locomotives had worked extremely hard in France. With train loads approaching two thousand tonnes and severe gradients to tackle, double-heading on ballast trains was common and failures were inevitable, although most were rectified.

The only Class 58 to suffer major problems was 58016, which had an alternator failure while working with a Class 56. The most famous incident of the whole project involved 56118, which caught fire.

Even so, the French contract was a highly successful chapter in the history of the Class 58s, and for a time it was understood that EWS was keen to repeat the formula on future French infrastructure projects such as Rhine–Rhône.

French Class 58 data file