[2] By the early 1940s, the backbone of the Soviet passenger fleet was the class Su 2-6-2, of which more than 2,000 examples were in service.

It became the new premier passenger locomotive on the Soviet railway system but its higher axle loading (20.2 tons) meant that its use was restricted to only certain lines.

[1][3] Following the end of the Second World War, railway traffic increased as the national economy recovered.

In 1946 the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Railway Transport (VNIIZhT) published basic requirements for a new passenger locomotive.

It employed all of the latest technology in Soviet locomotive construction including a welded boiler, mechanical stoker, power reverse, cast frame, and roller bearings on all engine and tender axles.

Thermal efficiency was 9.22%, the highest of any Soviet passenger locomotive and only .05% lower than the class LV.

[1][4] Since the test results were positive, Kolomna Works was given an order for a small batch of prototype locomotives.

[1] The initial batch of 30 production locomotives numbered 0007–0036 was produced in 1954, including small changes made from the prototypes.

At the end of the year the P36 type was approved for mass production, and in 1955 Kolomna Works produced 155 locomotives numbered 0037–0161, followed by another 90 built in 1956 (0162–0251).

In particular the P36 locomotives were used on the Moscow-Skuratovo, Moscow-Michurinsk, Moscow-Pokhvistnevo, Moscow-Leningrad, Moscow-Murom, Krasnoyarsk-Taishet and Krasnoyarsk-Ilansky lines in the Russian SFSR.