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TransPennine Express (TPE) will sub-lease fourteen Class 68 locomotives from Direct Rail Services from 2018 for initial use on the Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle route, before transferring them to the Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough service in 2019. These will haul five-car rakes of Mark 5A coaches, with a driving trailer at the opposite end.68019 Brutus and 68021 Tireless were the first locomotives to be vinyled into the TransPennine Express livery at Gresty Bridge; by September 2018, the remaining 12 dedicated TPE locomotives (68020, 68022-032) were also revinyled. 68033 & 68034, to be used as "standby" locomotives , retain DRS "Compass" livery. The TPE vinyled locomotives do not feature yellow front ends, following a change to the regulations. In November 2017, 68021 Tireless was moved from Gresty Bridge to Southampton Docks and ultimately transported to the Velim Test Track in the Czech Republic for testing with the new Mark 5A coaches. Testing included brake-force tests and door-interlock testing before the locomotive was returned to Great Britain in July 2018.

The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail (and previously by Vossloh España) for Direct Rail Services in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from the Stadler Eurolight, and Stadler's product name for this variant is the UKLight. The second batch of Class 68s - also for Direct Rail Services, and the first to be built by Stadler - completed delivery in April 2016. The third batch of Class 68s - completed delivery in July 2017.