Fastline was a railway freight operator. It was part of Jarvis plc

Jarvis PLC

Jarvis plc is a British company that provides support services to the British railway industry. It also runs rail freight operations. The most significant feature of the modern firm is its leading share of the UK’s railway maintenance and infrastructure services.-19th and 20th centuries:The...

. It ceased trading when Jarvis plc entered administration and subsequently ceased trading in late March 2010. The company is in administration with N.G. Edwards, N.B. Kahn, P.S. Bowers and I. Brown of Deloitte LLP.

They operated a fleet of Class 56

British Rail Class 56

The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp , and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement...

 and Class 66

British Rail Class 66

The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...

 locomotives. The class 56s cost £700,000 each to refurbish. Their base was at Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

, Yorkshire. A fourth and a fifth Class 56 (56311 & 56312) were hired in from Hanson Traction Ltd. The company's main operation at first was 4O90, a container

Containerization

Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...

 train to Thamesport

Thamesport

London Thamesport is a container seaport on the River Medway, serving the North Sea. It is on the Isle of Grain, in the Medway unitary authority, Kent, England in the United Kingdom. It is sited on the former Port Victoria.-History:...

 on the Isle of Grain

Isle of Grain

The Isle of Grain, in the north of Kent, England, is the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula. No longer an island, the Isle is almost all marshland and the Grain Marshes are an important habitat for birdlife...

, which operated in the afternoon/evening, and returned in the early hours of the next morning, usually utilising Class 56 locomotives. They also ran several coal flows including from Hatfield to Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station is a coal-fired power station operated by E.ON UK at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the then Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW...

, using the Class 66s and a new build of coal hoppers

Hopper car

A hopper car is a type of railroad freight car used to transport loose bulk commodities such as coal, ore, grain, track ballast, and the like. The name originated from the coke manufacturing industry which is part of the steel industry ....

. Since the end of Fastline's container traffic flows from Doncaster to the Isle of Grain, the class 56s were intended to be used on Fastline's coal flows.

Coal flows run by Fastline included:

Coal from Daw Mill

Daw Mill

Daw Mill is a coal mine located near the village of Arley in the English county of Warwickshire. The mine is Britain's biggest coal producer, mining a five-metre thick section of the Warwickshire Coalfield in the north of the county...

 to Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station is a coal-fired power station operated by E.ON UK at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the then Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW...

Coal from Hatfield Colliery to Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station is a coal-fired power station operated by E.ON UK at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the then Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW...

Coal from Daw Mill

Daw Mill

Daw Mill is a coal mine located near the village of Arley in the English county of Warwickshire. The mine is Britain's biggest coal producer, mining a five-metre thick section of the Warwickshire Coalfield in the north of the county...

 to Cottam Power Station

Cottam Power Station

The Cottam power stations are a pair of power stations, located on the River Trent at Cottam near Retford in Nottinghamshire. The largest of the two is a coal-fired power station, which was commissioned in 1969 by the Central Electricity Generating Board, and has a generating capacity of 1,970...

Coal from Immingham

Immingham

Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...

 to Ironbridge Power Station

Ironbridge Power Station

The Ironbridge power stations refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations which have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The current Ironbridge B power station is operated by E.ON UK...

Fleet details

Each machine (except number 66434) is currently for sale by administrators

Number	Class	Livery	Introduced	Status
56301	56 British Rail Class 56 The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp , and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement...	Fastline Grey	2005	Barrow Hill
56302	56 British Rail Class 56 The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp , and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement...	Fastline Grey	2005	Barrow Hill?
56303	56 British Rail Class 56 The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp , and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement...	Great Western Railway green livery	2005	Previously hired from FM Rail/RVEL Operational
66301	66 British Rail Class 66 The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...	Fastline Grey	2008	Operational Long Term Hire/Lease via DRS
66302	66 British Rail Class 66 The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...	Fastline Grey	2008	Stored Crewe Gresty Bridge
66303	66 British Rail Class 66 The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...	Fastline Grey	2008	Operational Long Term Hire/Lease via DRS
66304	66 British Rail Class 66 The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...	Fastline Grey	2008	Operational Long Term Hire/Lease via DRS
66305	66 British Rail Class 66 The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...	Fastline Grey	2008	Stored Crewe Gresty Bridge
66434	66 British Rail Class 66 The Class 66 is a six axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the British Rail Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies...	Fastline Grey	2008	Operational Long Term Hire/Lease via DRS