During the 1980s, it became increasingly apparent that British Rail required a more capable Type 5 locomotive for its heavy freight trains.

Dissatisfaction with the British Rail Class 56's reliability led to the stipulation of a 95 per cent availability, a stringent requirement at the time.

While the company was reportedly unimpressed by the type's performance, it was retained for heavy freight duties while much of the fleet was stored and subsequently sold on to other operators.

However, during November 2010, EWS's successor, DB Schenker, announced that a portion of the fleet would be overhauled, referring to such units as Super 60s and extending their service life through to around 2025.

[6] These various factors drove British Rail to produce a stringent requirement calling for a new Type 5 diesel locomotive for use on its Trainload Freight sector.

[6] In terms of its basic configuration, it sought a high-powered low-speed locomotive suitable for its existing core traffic operations.

[6] A late-stage decision to reduce the size of the engine compartment enabled the redesign of the cabs at either end of the locomotive.

[6] On 10 August 1987,[6] the British Railways Board issued a competitive tender for response by 7 November, for a fleet of 100 locomotives.

[6] Of these, only three companies chose to respond with a bid by the November 1987 deadline:[8] Of the three bidders, Brush's submission was selected as the winner.

On 17 May 1988, the placement of an order for 100 locomotives with Brush valued at £120 million was announced by Paul Channon, the Secretary of State for Transport.

Brush decided to subcontract much of the component manufacturing work, while performing final assembly of each locomotive at its erecting shops at Loughborough.

[9] On 1 July 1989, less than 14 months following the order's announcement, the first locomotive departed Brush, having been formally handed over to British Rail in a ceremony held the day beforehand.

[6] It was initially dispatched to the Engineering Development Unit at Derby where it underwent testing, revealing the type to possess a number of teething problems.

[3] Specific areas that required redesign work included the control software, suspension system, and structural elements; reportedly, there were in excess of 100 individual faults ultimately identified, resulting in a threat of the order's cancellation being issued unless the outstanding problems were rectified.

Two different cab designs were considered and full size mock-ups were made in wood, plastic and metal by the Engineering Development Unit at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby.

[11] The main alternator is a Brush BA1006A type, providing power for the traction motors via rectification circuits to DC.

Reportedly, the company was not impressed by the Class 60's performance, having a generally disfavourable attitude towards all of British Rail's locomotives.

[6] Thus, EWS decided not to reduce the 100 strong fleet, even those units that were damaged by fires and collisions would receive repairs.

[18] While members of the fleet were reaching the milestone of 20,000 operating hours, at which point an overhaul was required, no authorisation for this work was given, with individual locomotives being rotated instead.

[19] In June 2007, EWS was acquired by DB Schenker, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German railway company, Deutsche Bahn.

[23] This programme involved the complete overhaul, but not total replacement, of the locomotive's engine, as well as the refurbishment of various elements, including the traction motors, bogies, control gear, cabs, and electrical systems.

[6] In preparation for the privatisation of British Rail, the organisation's freight business was divided into five separate units; of these, three would operate the Class 60.

These entities only briefly existed before their purchase by English Welsh & Scottish (EWS), thus transferring all members of the Class to a single private sector operator.

The others (coal and petroleum sectors) received the names of famous British citizens, with an emphasis on those whose contribution had been to science and engineering.

On 18 February 2020 the final locomotive of the quartet, 60 029, emerged from a repaint, at Toton TMD, in DC Rail Freight grey and carrying its original name, Ben Nevis.

In mid-June 2022 60 062 was repainted into a new 'STEEL ON STEEL' livery, highlighting DB Cargo UK's role in transporting metal around the country.

[42] Listed for sale (47): 60 001, 003, 005, 007, 010, 015, 019, 020, 023, 025, 027, 030, 031, 033-035, 039, 040-045, 049, 051, 053, 054, 058, 059, 063, 065-067, 069, 071-073, 079, 082, 083, 088, 091, 092, 094, 097, 100, 500*[43] Stored in Loughborough (14): 60 008, 009, 013, 022, 038, 057, 061, 064, 070, 075, 080, 090, 098, 099 3 (*) Acquired from DB Cargo UK for spares Presently three members of the class have been preserved.

[49] From 2013, Graham Farish produced models of 60029 Ben Nevis in two-tone grey Railfreight Metal Sector livery and 60011 in DB Schenker red.