Chiltern (Stadler Eurolight) Class 68 Acceleration Banbury SB 0-90mph (150km/h)

How fast do the Class 68 Locomotive hauled trains accelerate? Today we present a run from Banbury on a Birmingham to London Marylebone service in good weather and a dry railhead. The 3,800hp Caterpillar engined locomotive has 4 x 600hp traction motors that push out 2,400hp to the wheels. And with a relatively light load of 6 MKIII coaches and a DVT (driving van trailer) , we get a chance to see whether this locomotive has the guts to match the throbbing diesel engine's that so many rail enthusiasts have taken a liking to.
From Banbury Southbound the track speed limit is only 90mph for around 6 miles, so we don't get a chance to see this locomotive run at full pelt to the ton. Instead we have filmed its run to the initial limit of 90mph. Despite the line speed limit clearing to 100mph, the driver of this on-time service didn't use the 100mph capabilities of this locomotive to the full cruising at a maximum 96 to 97mph later on in the day. We start with the gradients in our favour - an initial slight but kind downhill stretch of track of 1 in 1077 , followed by a short stretch of 1 in 386 before levelling out. 0 to 60 was achieved in just over 1 minute 20 seconds, with 90mph coming up in around 3 minutes and 3 miles. A pretty impressive performance. Shame the line speed limit here does is not the full 100mph!!