text: United Kingdom The first locomotive shipped to the UK arrived at Immingham in June 1998, taken to Derby for testing. The second was taken to AAR's Pueblo Test Centre for endurance testing, before shipping to the UK. The locomotives then shipped at a rate of 11 per month into the UK via Newport Docks, until the order was completed in December 2001. After unloading, EWS engineers then simply took off the tarpaulin, unblocked the suspension, and finally as each was shipped with water and fuel, connected the batteries, before starting the engine and handing the locomotive into service. The ability to simply start up '66s' on the dockside and drive them under their own power to depots to enter service was nothing short of a revelation compared with many other BR locomotives, particularly the BR Class 60s.
  Each locomotive is specified and guaranteed to 95% availability, aiming for a minimum of 180 days mean time between failures. It is designed to cover 1.6 million km between major rebuilds, equivalent to 18 years' service, with each major rebuild costed at £200,000.
  The initial classification was as Class 61, then they were subsequently given the Class 66 designation in the British classification system (TOPS). In 1998 Freightliner placed an order for locomotives. They were followed by GB Railfreight, and then Direct Rail Services. The last of more than 500 built over an 18-year period was No 66779, Evening Star, delivered to GB Railfreight in spring 2016.
  Although sometimes unpopular with many rail enthusiasts, due to their ubiquity and having caused the displacement of several older types of (mostly) British built locomotives, their high reliability has helped rail freight to remain competitive. Rail enthusiasts labelled the type "The Red Death" as they displaced many older types of locomotive whilst also acquiring the nicknames of "sheds" for the EWS (now DBS) locomotives (due to their upturned roof looking like a shed roof) with the Freightliner locomotives being called "Freds" as a portmanteau of Freightliner and Shed.