Between 1976 and 1984, British Rail had 135 examples of the six-axle class 56 freight locomotive built. The final production of the first 30 of the series created according to BR plans was carried out with sub-assemblies in Romania at Electroputere. The following locomotives were assembled in England. The 16-cylinder Ruston-Paxman 16RK3CT diesel engine produced 2625 kW and generated the power for the six traction motors. In favor of reliability, the power was reduced to 2420 kW at 900 rpm. The Class 56 did not have a train heating equipment, which is why the gear ratio for the maximum speed of 129 km/h suitable for passenger trains is somewhat surprising. For particularly heavy trains, the six-axle vehicles received multiple traction control. The first shutdowns took place after only 20 years of operation. In the 2010s, for example, the railway companies GB Railfreight and Colas Rail still used Class 56s for medium-heavy freight duty. GB Railfreight plans to repower some of their 16 Class 56s with EMD 12-710 12-cylinder engines and re-run as Class 69s.

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