It was used on the Jakarta-Bandung, Jakarta-Surabaya and Malang-Surabaya routes. During the Dutch colonial era, the term "Vlugge Vier" (Fast Four) was used on the Jakarta-Bandung route, where C28 class locomotives covered the distance of four times a day at a speed of with a travel time of about 2 hours 45 minutes. These express trains only stopped for one minute at Karawang, Cikampek and Purwakarta. In addition, the C28 class locomotive was used on express trains like the "Java Nacht Express" (Java Night Express) and the "Eendaagsche Express" (One Day Express). A C28 class locomotive also hauled the train carrying President Sukarno and his entourage to Yogyakarta on 3 January 1948.