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| officialname = Electra is a high-speed electric locomotive, which produces power of ; it was ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of ; they were also referred to as Electras by British Rail during their development and throughout the electrification of the East Coast Main Line.
The locomotive body shells are of all-steel construction. Unusually, the motors are body mounted and drive bogie-mounted gearboxes via cardan shafts; this reduces the unsprung mass and hence track wear at high speeds. The locomotive also features an underslung transformer, therefore the body is relatively empty compared to contemporary electric locomotives. Much of the engineering specification for the locomotive was derived from the research and operational experience of the APT-P.
The other end of the InterCity 225 train set is formed of a Mark 4 Driving Van Trailer, built with a similar body shell to the Class 91 locomotives but with only one driving cab.
History
Background
The origins of the Class 91 are closely associated with the East Coast Main Line (ECML) on which it has been primarily operated. During the 1950s, British Rail had considered electrification of the ECML to be of equal importance to the West Coast Main Line (WCML), but various political factors led to the envisioned electrification programme being delayed for decades; as an alternative, high-speed diesel traction, the Deltic and then the InterCity 125, was introduced upon the route during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1970s, a working group of British Rail and Department of Transport officials determined that, out of all options for further electrification, the ECML represented the best value by far. Its in-house forecasts determined that increases in revenue and considerable reductions in energy and maintenance costs would occur by electrifying the line.
Accordingly, between 1976 and 1991, the ECML was electrified with overhead lines. The electrification was installed in two phases: The first phase between London (King's Cross) and (including the Hertford Loop Line) was carried out between 1976 and 1978 as the Great Northern Suburban Electrification Project, using Mk. 3A equipment, covering in total. That same year, the ECML had been energised through to York; However, due to various factors including technical issues, the APT programme was curtailed during the summer of 1983. Shortly thereafter, two alternative options were explored, an electrified version of the InterCity 125 (known as the HST-E), and the mixed-traffic locomotive; these were both intended to a peak service speed of .
Some officials within British Rail pushed for more demanding requirements for the future Intercity trainset; reportedly, BR's Director of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (M&EE) was a strong proponent for increasing the top speed to .
thumb|A (90050) and a Class 91 (91020) under construction at [[Crewe Works in 1990]]
On 14 February 1985, the BR board approved the substitution of the Class 91 for Class 89 for the ECML programme. and led to the electric Networker Classes 365, 465 and 466 EMU Networker stock's procurement being taken forward.
thumb|91115 running with the 'blunt' Number 2 end leading at [[London King's Cross]]
thumb|The No. 2 end driver's cab in a Class 91
The locomotive body is asymmetric; streamlined at the 'front' (Number 1) end , but left 'blunt' at the Number 2 end so as to visually blend with the fixed sets of Mark 4 coaches in normal push-pull passenger service. Because of a design requirement that the class be able to function as normal locomotives if so required, a full driver's cab is also provided at the Number 2 endbut the locomotive's maximum speed is reduced to when this cab is at the front of a train.
During the privatisation of British Rail ownership of the Class 91 fleet passed to Eversholt Rail Group, which in turn leased the fleet to its various operators. Eversholt put all 31 locomotives through a £30million heavy overhaul and refit process () between 2000 and 2003, seeking to improve the fleet's reliability. Rail Magazine described it in March 2001 as being necessary because "eight out of ten failures on Class 91s were caused by the sub-standard electrics", and further noted that problems with relays in particular were the "third-biggest" cause of failures.
In November 2012, number 91114 had a second pantograph added as a pilot project conducted jointly by Eversholt, East Coast, DB ESG, Wabtec, and Brecknell Willis. The design uses the same mounting positions as a conventional pantograph but pairs two pantograph arms in an opposing configuration. If there is an ADD (Automatic Dropping Device) activation or the pantograph becomes detached, the train can keep going, so the system provides redundancy in the event of a pantograph/OLE failure.
Speed records
Locomotive 91010 (now 91110) holds the British speed record for electric locomotives, reaching while on a test run down the East Coast Main Line's Stoke Bank on 17 September 1989. Locomotive 91012 (now 91112) holds the separate record for the fastest non-stop journey between London King's Cross and ; 3hours29minutes on 26 September 1991, running within the speed limit but hauling a shortened set of only five coaches plus DVT. The time converts to an average speed of .
Despite these successes, however, Class 91 locomotives have never used their 140mph top speed in regular service, because testing conducted by British Rail in 1988 established that drivers could not interpret and act upon line-side signal aspects with sufficient consistency and accuracy when driving at speeds exceeding . Regulations throughout Britain were subsequently amended to require the use of in-cab signalling whenever running service trains at speeds above 125mph, an option that BR were unwilling to pursue at the time.
Fleet
thumb|The main (Number 1 end) cab of a Class 91
When British Rail was privatised, the InterCity livery was progressively removed and new operator GNER applied their corporate livery of blue and vermilion. When GNER lost their franchise in 2007, the vermilion stripe was replaced by a white stripe containing the words National Express and East Coast. National Express East Coast originally planned to repaint all of their InterCity 225 sets in the white and silver NXEC corporate livery within two years. However, the collapse of NXEC in 2009 and its replacement with East Coast saw this repainting programme cancelled. As a result, 91111 was the only locomotive to receive the full National Express livery.
In June 2010, a new silver livery with a purple stripe was unveiled by East Coast. By February 2011, locomotives 91101, 91106, 91107 and 91109 carried this livery. Locomotive 91101 was soon given maroon vinyls, with Flying Scotsman branding. Locomotive 91107 was given promotional "Skyfall" vinyls for a time during 2012–3. The locomotive later returned to conventional Virgin Trains East Coast livery. Locomotive 91110 carries 'BBMF' Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight livery. By 2013, all locomotives carried the standard East Coast livery of silver/grey with a purple stripe. 91118 was the last locomotive to carry GNER/NXEC livery. All Mark 4 coaches and DVTs have since been repainted. On 14 October 2014, at Newcastle station, locomotive 91111 was unveiled in a commemorative World War I livery and named 'For The Fallen'.
The Class 91 fleet has carried nameplates applied in various batches and themes. Immediately after repainting into GNER colours in the late 1990s, all locomotives were briefly nameless. Having initially been applied to only a few locomotives in the early 1990s using cast-iron plates, eventually the whole fleet was named, many multiple times, until all were removed in 2008. In 2011, in response to customer requests, East Coast resumed the practice. It began by naming No. 91109 as Sir Bobby Robson with cast-iron plates, unveiled in a ceremony at Newcastle station on 29 March by his widow Elsie and Alan Shearer.
List of Class 91 locomotives
{| class="wikitable"
!Key:
|In service
|bgcolor=#fee7e6|Stored
|bgcolor=#cccccc|Scrapped
|bgcolor=#eaf3ff|Preserved
|bgcolor=#fef6e7|Exported
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!rowspan=2 align=left|Current Number
!rowspan=2 align=left|Previous Number(s)
!rowspan=2 align=left|Current name
!rowspan=2 align=left|Previous name(s)
!rowspan=2 align=left|Current livery
!rowspan=2 align=center|Built
!rowspan=2 align=left|Operator
!rowspan=2 align=left|Status
!rowspan=2 align=left|Notes
|-
|-
|valign="top" align=center|91101
|valign="top" align=center|91001
|valign="top" align=left|Flying Scotsman
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Operational
|valign="top" align=left|
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
|valign="top" align=center|91102
|valign="top" align=center|91002
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
|valign="top" align=center|91103
|valign="top" align=center|91003
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped Scrapped in August 2022.
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
|valign="top" align=center|91104
|valign="top" align=center|91004
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped
|valign="top" align=left|National Railway Museum 50th anniversary artwork
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Operational
|-
|valign="top" align=center|91106
|valign="top" align=center|91006
|valign="top" align=left| Swallow InterCity 225 - Since 1989
|valign="top" align=left|East Lothian
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Operational
|-
|valign="top" align=center|91107
|valign="top" align=center|91007
|valign="top" align=left|Skyfall
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity Scrapped at C F Booth, Rotherham, May 2022.
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|Battle of Britain Memorial Flight artwork
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Operational
|valign="top" align=left|The locomotive holds the national speed record for electric locomotives of attained at Stoke Bank near Peterborough on 17 September 1989. Selected for preservation in the National Collection.
|-
|valign="top" align=center|91111
|valign="top" align=center|91011
|valign="top" align=left|For the Fallen
|valign="top" align=left|Terence Cuneo
|valign="top" align=left|For the Fallen artwork
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
|valign="top" align=center|91115
|valign="top" align=center|91015
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped
|valign="top" align=left|LNER red/white
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped.
|valign="top" align=left|Europhoenix
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Europhoenix
|valign="top" align=left|Stored Currently stored at Barrow Hill. To be used as a spares donor in the project to reactivate 89001 Avocet.
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER red/white
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|BR InterCity 'Swallow'
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Europhoenix
|valign="top" align=left|Stored
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
|valign="top" align=center|91121
|valign="top" align=center|91021
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER red/white
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped. Was in warm storage at Belmont Yard, Doncaster. Scrapped in February 2023
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped|York Minster,|Voice of the North
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity|Peterborough Cathedral,|Guide Dog
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|Scrapped
|valign="top" align=left|'
|valign="top" align=left|LNER InterCity
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|LNER
|valign="top" align=left|Operational
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
|valign="top" align=center|91132
|valign="top" align=center|91023
|valign="top" align=left|
|valign="top" align=left|City of Durham
|200px|91130 at York railway station in October 2022
|-
|Europhoenix
| 2019present
| Europhoenix grey, silver, and red (with a phoenix motif branding)
|200px|91117 at Leicester TMD in October 2019.
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Promotional / Non-Standard Liveries
!Locomotive
!Operator(s)
!Years
!Description
!Image
!Notes
|-
|91101
|East Coast
|20102015
|Purple fading into the standard livery
|frameless|200x200px
|Applied to DVT 82205 too
|-
|91105
|LNER
|2025present
|Multi-coloured swirls and several of the NRM's locomotives including Mallard and Duchess of Hamilton
|frameless|200x200px
|Unveiled at an event at the National Railway Museum on Tuesday, 8 July 2025. and remained on display on the turntable until Thursday, 10 July 2025.
|-
|91110
|East Coast - LNER
|2012present
|Features a Lancaster Bomber on the right side and a Spitfire and Hurricane on the left side
|frameless|200x200px
|Unveiled at Railfest 2nd June 2012 opposite 'Mallard', both being speed record holders
|-
|91111
|East Coast - LNER
|2014present
|Features silhouettes of soldiers and poppy fields on the sides and an inverted triangle warning panel on the front
|frameless|200x200px
|Unveiled at Newcastle on October 14th, followed by an event at Leeds on October 27th and a longer ceremony at King's Cross on November 7th 2014
Updated by LNER in 2022, replacing the East Coast purple stripe with a grey stripe
|-
|91114
|East Coast, Virgin Trains East Coast
|20132015
|Standard livery with Lindisfarne Gospel artwork applied.
| frameless|203x203px
|Locomotive renamed to Durham Cathedral on 3 July 2013 at Newcastle and blessed by The Reverend Stephen Sorby
|}
Current operations
The fleet, which was previously operated by InterCity and then GNER, National Express East Coast, East Coast and Virgin Trains East Coast, is currently run by London North Eastern Railway.
In July 2019, 91108 was the first of the class to be withdrawn. Following the withdrawal of the InterCity 125 fleet in December 2019, it was previously thought that the InterCity 225 fleet would be fully withdrawn by June 2020. However, LNER announced on 29 January 2020 that they would be retaining a limited number of the InterCity 225 fleet to deliver all of the benefits of their December 2021 timetable. LNER later confirmed that they would be keeping 10 sets in service.
In September 2020, Eversholt Rail Group and London North Eastern Railway extended their lease to ten by 2023. In addition, there are options to make it operational until 2024. It will be overhauled at the Wabtec Doncaster plant.
At the end of service on 15 January 2021, the remaining serviceable InterCity 225 sets went into storage temporarily as part of the East Coast Upgrade. Originally, the plan was to return the sets to service for 7 June 2021, but instead the first set re-entered service on 11 May 2021 due to a number of Azuma sets having to be taken out of service.
In March 2026, LNER reintroduced the InterCity 225 services to Newcastle for the first time since 2020, having previously only running as far as York. The sets were reduced to seven carriages from nine as part of the December 2025 timetable update.
Future operations
Europhoenix purchased 91117 and 91120 in September 2019. They were repainted at Bounds Green TMD before moving to UK Rail Leasing's Leicester depot. They were to be re-geared for freight operation in Europe. In September 2022, 91120 moved to Crewe Heritage Centre on long-term loan from Europhoenix.
Rail Operations Group have taken a pair of Class 91s for use in testing of the newly electrified Midland Main Line prior to the introduction of regular electric services between and . The company has also expressed interest in using the Class 91s on high speed logistics trains.
Grand Union proposed to operate InterCity 225s on London Paddington to Cardiff Central and London Euston to Stirling services.
Scrapping
Locomotive 91132 was the first Class 91 to be scrapped, at Sims Metals scrapyard in Nottingham in 2021.
Preservation
In September 2022, Crewe Heritage Centre received 91120 on long-term loan from Europhoenix. in March 2023, it moved to preservation at the Museum of Scottish Railways at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway.
In February 2026, 225 Preservation was launched, announcing they had preserved two British Rail Mark 4 Carriages which had previously ran with Class 91s in service. These are both LNER ‘Oxblood’ coach ‘M’s which were taken out of the sets as part of the December 2025 timetable. They have expressed a desire to own and operate a Class 91 and hope this is a stepping stone towards it.