Their development started as a joint project between Deutsche Bahn and SNCF, on the one hand, and the railway vehicle manufacturers De Dietrich Ferroviaire and Linke-Hofmann-Busch on the other, both being subsidiaries of Alstom.

Forty units of this class were delivered to Deutsche Bahn, of which four have been retired due to accidents.

The arrangement of the two engines in front of the bogies, the bulging appearance of the coach body and the large, one-piece, swinging doors give the vehicle its characteristic appearance, which has earned it the nickname Walfisch (Whale).

They are deployed in Baden-Württemberg at Hochrhein – between Basel Badischer Bahnhof and Lauchringen – and in Thuringia at Erfurt, on lines including the Schwarzatalbahn between Rottenbach and Katzhütte, on the Pfefferminzbahn between Sömmerda and Großheringen, the Friedrichroda railway between Friedrichroda and Fröttstädt, on the line from Saalfeld to Blankenstein and the Gotha–Gräfenroda railway.

Other vehicles of the Alstom Coradia A TER family were delivered from Reichshoffen to the French SNCF and the Luxembourg CFL.