Built in Vienna, Austria, and Uerdingen, Germany[1] the units feature air conditioning, plug doors, CCTV, a wheelchair area, and first class at the cab ends.

[11] They were primarily used on Great Eastern Main Line services from London Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester Town and Ipswich.

[16][17] Beginning in June 2020, all were cycled through Siemens at Kings Heath Depot, Northampton to be modified for 110 mph (177 km/h) operation.

Two units had received a temporary application of the EMR Connect livery in time for this;[21] full-scale repainting of the fleet began in June 2021.

[25][26] The first rebuilt unit arrived at Heathrow Connect's Old Oak Common depot in November 2004,[27] and services commenced in June 2005.

[34][35][36] In February 2021, Rail Operations Group (ROG) purchased the five-strong fleet from Heathrow Airport Holdings.

The fleet was moved to MoD Bicester for storage pending further use with the company, which potentially included conversion into "fast freight" units.