Top 10 071 Class Videos

In this 4th episode of Top 10 Videos we look at Irish Rail's 071 Class GM Locomotives.

The 071 Class Locomotives were built by General Motors in La Grange Illinois USA and there is 18 locos in the fleet.

The 18 Members of the 071 Class fleet entered service in 1976

After entering service the 071s were mainly allocated to passenger services on principal routes of the Irish Rail system to Cork, Limerick, Waterford , Galway , Sligo & Rosslare however they have ended up being use in passenger service across several other parts of the network.
The 071s have also seen use on Enterprise service between Belfast & Dublin.

In 1995 the 071s were displaced from use on Dublin to Cork services when the 201 Class locos were introduced then over the years the 201s gradually displaced the 071s from most of their other passenger duties across parts of the network.

Eventually with the introduction of modern DMUs the 071s were displaced from the last of their passenger duties in the late 2000s.

Throughout their life the 071 Class have seen plenty of use on freight trains including liners to Belfast.
But sadly some of the freight services the locos worked have now no longer operate.

In 2016 the 071 Class celebrated their 40th year in service and to mark the anniversary Irish Rail painted loco 071 into Supertrain livery.

In 2017 Irish Rail celebrated their 30th anniversary loco 073 was painted into Tippex livery as part of celebrations.

Today the 071 Class are used on the handful of remaining freight services across parts of the network.

The remaining freight services are
The IWT Liner between Dublin Port & Ballina
Timber Trains between Waterford & Westport + Ballina
Tara Mines trains between Dublin Port & Navan

Today the 071s also seen use on Engineering / P-Way Trains across the network.

And the 071s are also used on a number of enthusiast railtours that take place through the year.

071s Are also used on the RPSI Santa Specials alongside the societies steam locomotives.

And finally the 071s are also used on part of the Belmond Grand Hibernian Tours.

The 071 Class are now 44 years old and they are still going strong. They are fantastic locomotives

071 Class fleet list
071 In Service - Painted in Supertrain Livery
072 In Service
073 In Service - Painted in Tippex Livery
074 In Service
075 In Service
076 In Service
077 In Service
078 In Service
079 In Service
080 In Service
081 In Service
082 In Service
083 In Service
084 In Service
085 In Service
086 In Service
087 In Service
088 In Service