The bodyshells, of a similar design to Brush's Class 60 diesel locomotives but with a modified front end, were fabricated by Procor Engineering[6] of Horbury and delivered pre-painted in the then-standard Railfreight triple-grey livery.

[citation needed] To reduce the possibility of locomotive failure in the Channel Tunnel, most of the electrical systems are duplicated.

Prior to the privatisation of British Rail, ownership of the class was split between Railfreight Distribution, European Passenger Services (later Eurostar UK) and SNCF.

After privatisation the ownership of the Railfreight Distribution fleet was passed to the English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS, later DB Schenker/DB Cargo UK).

During 2000, Eurostar (UK) offered their seven members of the class (92020, 92021, 92032, 92040, and 92044–92046) for sale, as they were surplus to requirements following the cancellation of Nightstar services.

[1] In July 2011, Europorte 2/Eurotunnel purchased the five remaining locomotives that had belonged to SNCF, bringing Eurotunnel's total up to 16 Class 92s.

[citation needed] In 2009, an upgrade project was undertaken to allow the class to operate on High Speed 1; chiefly by installing TVM signalling.

[13] From 11 November 2011, a weekly service using European-size swap bodies has run between Barking, London, and Poland using High Speed 1.

On 18 January 2017, the specially-branded locomotive 92015 hauled the first train of twenty flatcars loaded with 40-foot (12 m) intermodal containers to Ripple Lane, near Barking; thus completing the first direct rail freight service between China and the UK.

The train left Yiwu station in eastern China's Zhejiang province on 1 January[16] and covered 7,500 miles (12,100 km).

[17] In 2018, DB Cargo Romania sold their fleet of Class 92s to Russian company Locotech, on the grounds that the weight of the locomotive was too high for the Romanian railway network (6 tonnes heavier than an Electroputere LE 5100, for example).

[20][21] In 2009, locomotive 92017 (formerly Shakespeare) was painted into Stobart Rail's blue and white livery and named Bart the Engine.

[23] In February 2015, 92033 was first to be released from Brush Traction after component refresh and subsequent repaint into a "Midnight Teal" livery.