During the late 1980s, the Norwegian State Railways sought a new locomotive type to replace its aging fleet of Di 3 diesel-electric locomotives, which made up the back-bone of the dieselized operations. The new locomotives were planned for use as freight and passenger trains on the Nordland Line, and to a lesser extent on the Røros Line. In 1980, NSB had taken delivery of five Di 4 from Henschel. Originally there were plans to order additional Di 4 units, but this was discarded and instead a new class was pursued, as NSB wanted similar, but slightly more modern, locomotives.