The trains have a capacity of 310 passengers and the 2,250 kilowatts (3,020 hp) motors allow a maximum speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph).

After the initial troubles, the Class 72 has been a highly successful train for NSB and well liked by the maintenance workers.

[6] On 26 September 1997, NSB announced that they would order 36 new trains from Ansaldo, with an option for an additional 40 units.

Each train would cost 50 million Norwegian krone (NOK), and NSB had 28 months to use their option.

NSB's CEO, Osmund Ueland, stated that Ansaldo had been chosen because they had the best technical offer and had by far the lowest price.

[7] The electronics would be delivered by Ansaldo, the superstructure by Breda and the bogies by Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM).

The latter were used to tailor the design to the Norwegian public's preferences, which among other things involved use of wood in the interior.

NSB stated that the situation was problematic both because they had calculated the need for standing places to handle rush-hour traffic, and because it was impossible for them to control if more people than there were seats for would board a train.

At the time, it was uncertain when Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) would be built for the Norwegian rail network, and NSB feared there could arise a situation in which the trains could not be used, if the construction were not accelerated.

[15] By January 2003, half the trains had been delivered, and were gradually being put into service on the Oslo Commuter Rail.

This made it impossible for the NSB to put the train into service on Norway's only high-speed line.

NSB would not accept to take delivery of the last 18 units before this problem had been fixed, and stated that no more money would be paid to the manufacturer until all 36 trains were delivered and without defects.