The Class 480 was expressly designed for the Brenner Railway, after the First World War had resulted in Italy and the FS taking possession of it up to its summit at the Brenner Pass. Previously the Austrian company Südbahn had worked the line with its powerful 2-10-0 SB 580 locomotives, ten of which had remained south of the new border and had been taken over by the FS as Class 482; these were however insufficient, and the Italian Class 470 locomotive, while powerful, did not have enough steaming to adequately last for the section from Bolzano to the summit. Therefore, it was decided to design a new locomotive based on the Class 482.