It was designed for shunting in depots, stations and sidings.

In depots, these small locomotives were used for moving and hauling locomotives during repairs (when the locomotives could not move under their own power) and in places where it was necessary to move electric locomotives without overhead lines (in roundhouses, on turntables and in engine sheds where space were limited and therefore the small overall length over the bumpers often played an important role).

A total of 824 were produced for the Czechoslovak State Railways, various Czechoslovak industrial enterprises and for export to the Soviet Union, the GDR, China, Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

[1] The engine is an air cooled, V12, fuel injected, four-stroke diesel.

The locomotives were fitted with a ČKD M 150-4 mechanical, four-speed transmission which is used to transfer power from the engine to the two driven wheelsets.