The class is used to operate passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley.

Under its plan, First would seek to directly compete with existing road, rail and air services by offering all standard class seating with an average ticket price of approximately £25.

[7] In March 2019, First announced that it had signed an agreement with Hitachi to procure a total of five new five-car trains from its A-train product line for its new service.

[8] The first test runs on the national network were held on 26 May 2021,[9] with the class entering public service on Lumo's launch day of 25 October 2021.

They are fitted with batteries to enable the train's on-board services to be maintained, in case the primary electrical supplies have failed.