 The locomotives were ordered to replace Belgian Railways Class 13, Class 21 and Class 27 locomotives on passenger intercity services.The Class 13 were mostly displaced on freight trains while the Class 21 and 27 took over slower passenger trains; this allowed the withdrawal of outdated Belgian Railways Class 23 and 26 locomotives as well as the younger but troublesome class 20.Locomotive number 1860 was officially presented at InnoTrans in 2008.