Greater Anglia Class 90 acceleration and journey Stowmarket to Diss

Greater Anglia's Class 90 locomotives and MK3 coaches form the Intercity service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street, calling at Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Stratford. Soon to be replaced by brand new Swiss built Stadler electric multiple units, we took a trip along the Great Eastern Main Line aboard one of these locomotive hauled trains to sample their performance. The Class 90's were built by British Rail Engineering Ltd Engineering Ltd at Crewe between 1987 to 1990. With a power output of 5000 hp (3,700kW, the Class 90's are at home on express passenger trains at up to 110mph (177km/h) or on heavy freight trains. On a sunny day in March 2019, we sample the 90's acceleration to 100mph and ability to cruise at that speed before the stop at Diss. This was a fairly fast run - between Stowmarket and Diss towards Norwich. The locomotive is at the rear of the train propelling it. The run time was 15 seconds faster than the booked schedule of 11.5 minute at an average speed of 76mph. This run was only 33 seconds slower than the fastest Railway Performance Society (RPS) recorded time of 10 mins 42 seconds.
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