The British Rail Class 60 is a class of Co-Co heavy freight diesel-electric locomotives built by Brush Traction. They are nicknamed Tugs by rail enthusiasts.  During the 1980s, it became increasingly apparent that British Rail required a more capable Type 5 locomotive for its heavy freight trains. Dissatisfaction with the British Rail Class 56's reliability led to the stipulation of a 95 percent availability, a stringent requirement at the time. A total of three bids were received to a competitive tender issued on 10 August 1987; of these, Brush Traction's submission was selected and an order for 100 locomotives was issued during the following year. Despite the first example being completed during June 1989, due to a number of technical issues discovered during testing, the first examples of the Class 60 would not enter revenue service until late 1990.

Operated only during the final years of British Rail, the entire Class 60 fleet became the property of English Welsh & Scottish (EWS) following the privatisation of British Rail during the mid 1990s. While the company was reportedly unimpressed by the type's performance, it was retained for heavy freight duties while much of the fleet was stored and subsequently sold on to other operators. Between 2004 and 2007, typically between 50 and 75% of the fleet would be out of action at a given time. However, during November 2010, EWS's successor, DB Schenker, announced that a portion of the fleet would be overhauled, referring to such units as Super 60s and extending their service life through to around 2025. Not all Class 60s received such overhauls however. During 2020, a Class 60 became the first example of the type to be scrapped, while another became the first to be preserved.