Europhoenix is a spot-hire railway locomotive company in England. In addition to the hiring out of locomotives to various other operators across the United Kingdom, it commonly exports former British Rail rolling stock to operators in mainland Europe.
The company was founded in 2008 with the project of overhauling stored Class 87 electric locomotives prior to their export to the Bulgarian Railway Company. Further customers would be found by Europhoenix for its refurbished Class 87s and Class 86s in both Bulgaria and Hungary; several Class 56 diesel freight locomotives were also exported in a similar manner. It also provides aftersales technical support for these types to their overseas operators.
Throughout the 2010s, Europhoenix purchased a number of Class 37 diesel locomotives, overhauling these and putting them to work for spot-hiring; additional examples were acquired in response to demand from customers such as the Rail Operations Group. The company is reportedly investigating hybrid technology and cleaner engine designs for its fleet. In October 2019, Europhoenix announced plans to refurbish and export up to 20 Class 91 electric locomotives to Eastern Europe for heavy freight operations.
History
The origins of Europhoenix can be traced to its founder, Glenn Edwards, and Electric Traction Limited, which the company formerly traded as prior to being rebranded. Early operations were centered around the overhauling of 17 stored