In 2015, Vivarail purchased 226 London Underground D78 Stock carriages with the aim of converting them to multiple units.

[4][5] The initial prototype D-Train was built as a three-car diesel-electric unit, which was completed in the summer of 2016, following which it underwent a programme of main-line testing, with the intention that it be used on a year-long trial service on the Coventry to Nuneaton line by London Midland.

The first full D-Train order came from West Midlands Trains, which procured three 2-car Class 230 DEMUs for use on the Marston Vale line.

[13] In 2019, South Western Railway announced an order for five 2-car D-Train sets for use by its Island Line operation on the Isle of Wight.

[15] In February 2022, Great Western Railway announced it had signed a deal with Vivarail to trial a fast-charging battery variant of the Class 230 for use on the West Ealing to Greenford branch line off the GWML.