The locomotive was taken to Crewe Electric TMD on 9 February 1987. The following day, it first ran under its own power, inside the depot perimeter. The first lone run on the mainline was on 20 February 1987. On 6 March 1987, the locomotive visited the Railway Technical Centre for weighing and other tests. 89001 was moved to the Old Dalby Test Track for evaluation and pantograph tuning on 13 April 1987. The locomotive was initially allocated to Crewe Electric depot for trials along the West Coast Main Line. Main line running between Crewe, Willesden and Carlisle was performed with the BREL International rake of Mark 3 coaches, along with measurement coaches. Following successful testing, 89001 was transferred to Hornsey on 9 December 1987, having been run for by that point. The locomotive was later transferred to Bounds Green, for passenger services on the East Coast Main Line. In May 1988 the locomotive returned to Old Dalby for braking trials. On 22 May 1988, 89001 along with a Class 90, Class 91 and Class 150 left for Hamburg for display at the International Traffic and Transport Exhibition, returning on 17 June 1988.