The type has had a generally long and successful career, with some members of the class seeing main line service lives in the UK of up to 55 years.

[9][10] The AL6 featured design elements pioneered on the earlier classes, such as the general construction of the bodies and bogies, and control systems.

A major departure from the designs of the earlier prototype locomotives came in the use of axle-hung, rather than frame mounted traction motors; this feature would later prove very problematic for the class.

Trials carried out under the direction of the British Rail Research Division proved successful and the modification was applied gradually in phases to the whole fleet.

As the SAB wheels were found to be insufficient for preventing track damage, in 1984 BR decided to refit all of their remaining 86/0 and 86/3 locos with flexicoil suspension, and by the mid-1980s all of the modified 86/0s and 86/3s were renumbered again as 86/4s, allowing a standardised fleet capable of 100 mph running.

[12] The West Anglia Main Line from Liverpool Street to Cambridge was also electrified at the same time and Class 86s hauled services on this route from 1987 until 1989.

[15][16] A later development saw Class 86/2 and 86/4 locomotives fitted with time-division multiplexing to enable them to operate push-pull passenger trains.

As a result, many had their electric train heating isolated and were re-geared to a lower maximum speed of 75 mph (121 km/h), these were usually operated in pairs on long-distance freight services.

The Railfreight sector introduced its new two tone grey livery in 1987, initially without sub-sector logos due to shared operations on Speedlink and Freightliner duties.

A fleet of 15 locomotives[nb 2] were inherited, which were used to exclusively haul London Liverpool Street-Norwich inter-city services.

It was repainted in a variation of Anglia's livery, with a large Union Flag painted on the side and named Golden Jubilee to commemorate Elizabeth II's 50th anniversary of her reign.

The first major changes to the fleet occurred in late 2002, when Anglia started to hire Class 90 locomotives from Freightliner.

In late 2003, Anglia swapped to using English Welsh & Scottish owned Class 90 locomotives, hiring up to five at any one time.

From 31 March 2015, 86101 was used to convey the empty sleeper coaching stock between London Euston and Wembley Intercity Depot, as well as between Glasgow Central and Polmadie TRSMD, along with 87002.

[17][failed verification] English Welsh & Scottish inherited a small fleet of 15 locomotives[nb 3] when it bought the Rail Express Systems parcels business.

They saw continued use with Virgin Trains, however, but were gradually withdrawn as new Class 390 Pendolino units entered service, reducing the need for hired locomotives.

One locomotive, ex-Virgin 86212, was hauled to East Ham Depot in London to be used for carriage power duties for the new Blue Pullman train.

Freightliner inherited a large fleet of thirty Class 86/6 freight-dedicated locomotives, most of which had previously been operated by Railfreight Distribution, but some came from Rail Express Systems.

The Freightliner fleet were originally employed on intermodal traffic along the northern half of the WCML from Crewe to Coatbridge (near Glasgow).

The class have occasionally been used on the East Coast Main Line, particularly when services are diverted due to engineering works.

In 1998, following the introduction of the rebuilt Class 57 diesel locomotives, Freightliner introduced a new livery of racing green with yellow cabsides.

The majority of the fleet have slowly been treated over the years, such that by the end of 2004, only a handful remained in the original two-tone grey livery.

By early 2021, the fleet was down to just two locomotives, and these final two were withdrawn from service in March, replaced by ex-Greater Anglia Class 90s.

In 2008, privately owned and preserved 86259 was returned to service on the main line, regaining the name of its owner Les Ross.

However, the majority of locomotives were retained in service until September 2002, when virtually the entire fleet was withdrawn en masse.

Virgin Trains West Coast inherited a small fleet of thirteen locomotives[nb 7] which were employed on West Coast Main Line express trains from London Euston to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Liverpool Lime Street, Carlisle and Glasgow Central.

86901 was subsequently taken to Sandbach Car and Commercial Dismantlers, where it was broken up, whilst 86902 suffered the same fate at CF Booth's scrapyard in Rotherham.

[19] In 2008, Europhoenix completed a deal to purchase the remaining Class 86/2 fleet from HSBC Rail Leasing, numbering 23 locomotives, with the intention of overhauling some of them for use in Europe and the UK.

86401 Mons Meg, which had previously been owned by AC Locomotive Group and used on the Caledonian Sleeper services from London to Scotland.

[37] The Class 86 was seriously damaged after falling down an embankment, coming to rest in a field (now the site of the Colne Valley Retail Park).