LNER Class 90 90019 acceleration 0-110mph Stevenage to Hitchin

LNER continue to hire-in Class 90 locomotives to haul and propel services in place of the usual Class 91's due to a shortage of serviceable Class 91's. Here we have a good chance to record the performance of 90019 on the 1B84 service from Kings Cross to Newark on Trent on a sunny November morning. Despite good sunny weather, the locomotive struggled to put its 5,000hp down at the start from Stevenage - suffering terrible wheelslip. Therefore the driver had to nurse the power in very slowly - meaning the train took 1 minute to reach a measly 18mph (30km/h), and almost 2.5 minutes to reach 60mph (95km/h). A 90 can normally reach 60mph in good conditions in around 70 seconds!!
By now the locomotive seemed to be a little more sure footed reaching 100mph (161km/h) in 4 mins and 20 seconds.
In good conditions, a '90' can haul a train to 100mph in just over 3 mins. 110mph (177 km/h) comes up in around 5 mins 17 seconds. The 90's lose around 3 to 4 minutes between Stevenage and Peterborough due to being limited to 110mph instead of 125mph (200km/h).
The Class 90's light weight and difficulty in applying power on wet rails is a known issue, making them one of the least popular locomotive for LNER drivers to drive. For passengers, the use of Class 90's doesn't present a huge issue, as the schedules are not too difficult to maintain. In the worst cases the train is usually only between 3 to 5 minutes late regarding the schedule due to its restriction to 110mph.

[@soundseeker63]

More than a minute to reach 20mph...? I think the driver had the power at less than 50% for most of that run. They can go much, much quicker than that.

[@N330AA]

Why is wheelslip worse for the 90 given it is heavier than the 91?

[@bb-3653]

Most of it is likely based on acceleration rates if its too heavy and tried to go off the mark too quick, it may just slip Instead. But I have no idea. These trains look REALLLLYYY HEAVY!!!!