The Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) / Northern Ireland Railways 201 Class locomotives are the newest and most powerful diesel locomotives operating in Ireland and were built between 1994 and 1995 by General Motors Diesel. They are model type JT42HCW, fitted with an EMD 12-710G3B engine of 3,200 hp (2,400 kW), weigh 108.862 tonnes (107.1 long tons; 120.0 short tons) and have a maximum speed of 164 km/h (102 mph).
By the early 1990s, the locomotives operating passenger services in Ireland were becoming increasingly obsolete, with the newest type in service being the 071 Class introduced in 1976. The economic boom in Ireland in the mid-1990s allowed Iarnród Éireann to begin significant investment in the infrastructure of the railways, which began with an order for 32 brand new express locomotives from GM-EMD. Northern Ireland Railways also purchased 2. The first were delivered in 1994, with deliveries continuing until 1995.
To allow clearance tests and driver training to commence in advance of the delivery of the main order of 201s, it was decided to transport the first locomotive, number 201, to Dublin by air. An Antonov An-124 was used to transport the locomotive from London, Ontario to Dublin Airport, arriving on Thursday 9 June 1994.[1] The first light-engine test run operated from Inchicore works to Kildare on the Tuesday 14.[2]
Unfortunately, the locomotives have had a chequered service history. The authors of Jane's Train Recognition Guide noted that IÉ had had problems with engine fires and bogie cracks.[3]
There are three versions within the Class 201:
Today push-pull equipped members of the 201 class operate the only passenger locomotive hauled services in the Republic of Ireland between Dublin and Cork. They operate with Mark 4 carriages which were introduced to the route in 2006/2007. The current livery, which primarily consists of green and silver, was introduced in 2006. All locomotives have full yellow ends to enhance visibility.
Non push-pull locomotives were withdrawn from service because Mark 4 carriages operate a push-pull system and rolling stock on other InterCity routes was replaced by 22000 Class DMUs. The only other locomotive-hauled service (also push-pull) is the Enterprise cross-border service to Belfast which is detailed below.
The Enterprise is a cross-border passenger service between Dublin and Belfast operated by Iarnród Éireann and Northern Ireland Railways. This is also a locomotive-hauled service and operates a similar push-pull system like services to Cork. As this is a jointly operated service, it is marketed as the "Enterprise" and the coaching stock and locomotives carry a separate livery to either operator's own services. It consists of light grey with a purple and red strip. Locomotives also have full yellow ends to enhance visibility.
As the service is shared, locomotives (8)208 and (8)209 are owned by Northern Ireland Railways. The coaching stock is owned by operators, Iarnród Éireann own the odd numbered coaches and NIR own the even numbered coaches.
In addition, Iarnród Éireann introduced four former Mark 3 generator vans, in September 2012, to operate this route, in a bid to improve reliability of the service and reduce maintenance costs. Previously, the service operated with head end power and this caused regular locomotive failures, increased wear and tear and also contributed to locomotive 230 being removed from service in June 2013 after an engine fire, while operating a passenger service with HEP in operation.
201 Class locomotives also operate some freight services as required. There is a container flow between Dublin Port and Ballina.
Since 2016, some 201 Class locomotives have operated increased freight services, as the weight and length of some freight services was increased, due to customer demand.
Locomotives 231 and 233 are painted in a common livery, which consists of light grey with a black stripe. The reason for this is that they are assigned for Enterprise duties and as part of the refurbishment of the Enterprise service, in 2015-2016, only six were given the full livery. Prior to this, some of those given the current livery had previously had the InterCity livery. As part of Iarnród Éireann's logo change, all InterCity 201's carry the new Iarnród Éireann logo, which includes the Irish flag, and for operational and safety reasons they do not operate cross border services, so a common colour scheme was adopted. After the cancellation of the Belmond Grand Hibernian in Ireland,[7] locomotive 216 has been used on both Enterprise and Intercity services, it remains in the blue livery of the Belmond Grand Hibernian as of April 2024.
The entire class is named after Irish rivers, with the IÉ locomotives carrying two nameplates, one in Irish and one in English, on each side of the locomotive. As 208 and 209 are owned by Northern Ireland Railways, they carry English language only nameplates. The nameplates are trapezium shaped, with the names in upper case. Some of the class have had long periods out of service, some of these are outlined below.
All of the non push-pull capable locomotives (201–205 and 210–214) were placed in storage at Inchicore during 2009, the last being 214 in July 2009. This was due to the withdrawal of the Mark 3 fleet and their replacement with 22000 Class DMUs on the vast majority of passenger services. This left only the Mark 4 Dublin–Cork services and the cross-border Enterprise service (with De Dietrich rolling stock) as the only locomotive hauled passenger services operated by Iarnród Éireann.
The reduction in the number of locomotive hauled passenger workings, combined with the withdrawal of older GM locomotives, has seen 201 Class locomotives used on freight workings, whilst four push-pull capable units were transferred to join the original four dedicated locomotives in use on the Enterprise.
In 2010 Iarnród Éireann planned to store some of its remaining push-pull capable Mark 3 coaches,[11] which could potentially have been used with 201 Class locomotives to enhance Enterprise's service. However, most Mark 3 carriages were scrapped during 2013 and 2014.[12]A fleet of 10 Mark 3 coaches were sold to Belmond Grand Hibernian, while 216 and 225 were earmarked be returned to service to handle the extra traffic generated by Belmond operation. In May 2016, 216 returned to service in Belmond livery, and has operated the Grand Hibernian almost exclusively since that time.
In October 2011 233 suffered bearing failure en route to Connolly station from Belfast.[13][14] It was transported by road to Inchicore Railway Works[15]
On 15 February 2016 two 201 Class locomotives (226 & 209) operated freight trials with a long train of 15 HOBS ballast wagons plus one un-powered loco, possibly assessing the loco's capabilities for future freight services.
In October 2016 Iarnród Éireann expressed an interest in seeking solutions to re-power most of the fleet during a mid-life refurbishment. The requirement was for floor-up engine and control gear solutions, which kept the existing cab controls and compatibility with the existing GM fleet and push/pull equipment. The body, cab controls, bogies, and traction motors would remain unchanged. 201 and 205 were brought in from storage for internal and external inspection, possibly in relation to this re-powering. The re-powering project was originally scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017, but was cancelled in early 2019.
In July 2017, 230 received some bodywork repairs [16] after it suffered significant damage, due to a fire in the HEP system[17] in 2013. The loco has been in storage since.
It is worth noting that they cannot operate on the Larne line due to weight clearance.
In the late 1990s, Model Irish Railways produced a resin bodyshell kit with nameplates, numbering, brass grills and the standard yellow / black livery line transfers. Marks Models also released a resin kit for these locomotives in 00 gauge in c.2000.
In 2001, Murphy Models commissioned LIMA to produce an '00' gauge 201 model loco.[18] They were produced in IÉ orange (201, 216, 217, 219, 230) and Enterprise (206, 207, 208, 209) liveries, in batches of 300 (except 500 of #207).
[19]
In 2011 Murphy Models launched a completely new version of the 201, with all wheel drive, centre can motor and preinstalled speaker. This was released in IÉ orange (original and revised), Green Intercity and NIR blue as well as NIR Enterprise original and revised.
Railtec Transfers [20] and Studio Scale Models [1] make transfers for the full range of 201 liveries, No's 201-234, original and updated Orange, original and updated Enterprise and Green Intercity.
The 201 Class has also been released in virtual form as a player driveable locomotive in the Microsoft Train Simulator add-on, "Irish Enterprise North", by Making Tracks,[21] and for OpenBVE by Celtic Trainsim.[22]
