In 1980, S-Berlin trains were still composed of pre-World War II Class 475, 476 and 477 vehicles.

In East Germany the LEW Hennigsdorf locomotive works were tasked with construction of new class of vehicle, which was presented at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1980.

Originally, it had been planned to build 300 units of this class to completely replace the older fleet.

Their train roller-blinds were changed to electronic displays, to allow the route to be reformatted into S-Bahn Berlin numbers.

[1] Trains made up of DBAG Class 485 units had been deployed on the following lines: This Berlin S-Bahn-related article is a stub.