 It was assigned both passenger and freight duty until the introduction of the 8200 series, which restricted the older locomotives to solely freight service.94 were built (numbered 8001-8094), but many have been retired as new replacements enter service.The locomotive was designed by the 50 C/s Group, which consisted of European manufacturers Alsthom (now Alstom), Siemens, MTE, Brown-Boveri, ACEC, and AEG, and was led by Alsthom.