The locomotives were the first in Austria to use thyristors. After successful test runs on the Semmering and Tauern mountain railway lines, the first four members of the class built by ASEA entered service with the ÖBB in 1971 and in the beginning of 1972, and the remaining six followed after a short delay while other Rc2 were manufactured in 1973.[1] The engines were used for passenger and freights services, mainly in the Austrian Alpine regions. One member of the class (1043.005) was subsequently withdrawn from service in 1999, due to irreparable accident damage.
The remaining nine units were sold in 2001 to TÅGAB and returned to Sweden as Tågab Rc2. The first three engines were purchased by the Swedish Rail Administration (Banverket ELL 0001R–0003R, today Infranord) by 2004; Tågab Rc2 004 was removed from service after a fire in 2008.[2]
^"End of Class 1043". Modern Railways. No. 639. December 2001. p. 60.
Inderst, Markus; Gemeinböck, Franz (2013). Die Reihe 1043: Technik und Einsatzgeschichte der schwedischen Rc2 bei den ÖBB [The ÖBB Class 1043: Technology and Deployment History of the Swedish Rc2 on the ÖBB]. KIRUBA classic 1/2013 (in German). Mittelstetten, Germany: KIRUBA Verlag. ISBN9783981297775.