20 locomotives were acquired around 2005, but proved less than reliable than the Class 26 bought at the same time. By 2008 only 5 out of 20 were in service due to the high number of technical problems. As a consequence KTM had to lease locomotives from India at a cost of $1000 per train per day.[4] As the units were still under warranty, the manufacturing company was called in and a KTMB task force was formed to fix the problem. By December 2008 eighteen units had been overhauled and were in working order.[5]
While the main objective of the locomotive is to pull heavy freight, it easily handles local shuttle trains with an operating speed averaging 110 km/h.[6]