With the ongoing electrification of the West Railway, there was a demand for freight train electric locomotives. The electrical components of the total of 22 locomotives were supplied by AEG, while the mechanical parts of the first 15 units were provided by the locomotive factory StEG. The remaining 7 machines were produced by the Floridsdorf locomotive factory. The machines were designated as E88.2 by the German Reichsbahn. They returned to Austria in the early 1950s and were reclassified as series 1280. All machines were decommissioned by 1976.