During the early 1950s, VR embarked on an £80 million program dubbed Operation Phoenix to rebuild a network badly run down by years of Depression-era underinvestment and wartime overutilisation.

[3] This included a substantial upgrade (regrading, rerouting and electrification) of the Gippsland line to Traralgon servicing Victoria's substantial brown coal fields in the Latrobe Valley to allow for greatly increased traffic in briquettes for industrial use.

A suitably powerful electric locomotive was sought for both express passenger and heavy freight use on the upgraded, electrified line.

Although English Electric recommended a heavier locomotive, VR engineers argued against anything above a 97 ton maximum.

The original round-ended nose design (which was to have resembled the EMD F7 nose used on the B class Diesel)[11] was shortened and squared off to allow the frame to be reduced in size and weight, reducing the depth of the cabs and requiring the driver to enter the cab via the engine room.

In terms of power, the L class outclassed most of the VR fleet when introduced in 1953, surpassed only by steam locomotive H220.

[14] The L was also able to haul an 1,100 ton load between Dandenong and Oakleigh stations in around half the time taken by VR's most powerful freight locomotive, the X class, allowing heavy freight trains from Gippsland to avoid delaying suburban passenger services sharing the same route.

A number of track workers were killed or seriously injured by L class locomotives whose rapid approach they were unable to hear until it was too late.

Furthermore, the additional expense associated with maintaining the 1,500 V DC overhead catenary system saw V/Line move to withdraw the L class from service and dewire the Gippsland line beyond Pakenham.