However, the last two projects were never realized. As there was no longer any need for these locomotives with conventional AC technology after the reunification of Germany due to the rapid decline in freight traffic, the order for the first delivery series of 70 locomotives, which had already been completed, was canceled. A total of units were planned to be procured in several delivery series by In , the Deutsche Reichsbahn was able to resume electric train operations after locomotives and equipment, which had to be handed over to the Soviet Union as reparations after the end of the war, were bought back.
By , many kilometers of track had been electrified, particularly in Saxony, increasing the proportion of electrified lines in relation to the overall network to eight percent by in comparison: 29 percent for the Deutsche Bundesbahn.
However, the oil crisis at the beginning of the s forced a rethink and the expansion of the electrified network was pushed forward again. By the end of the s, many new-build locomotives were already in service with the DR. Heavy goods traffic was dominated by the series locomotives, which were also used in heavy express train services. From , the universally deployable class was also delivered.
Together with the and classes, which had been in service since the s, these two series were the most important representatives of electric locomotives on the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Due to the constantly increasing train loads, the latter often required uneconomical pre-tensioning power, especially as the multiple control system, with which only a small number of the locomotives had been supplied anyway, was removed again as early as the mids.
Although over new class locomotives had already been delivered between and the end of , it was still not possible to completely dispense with the pre-war class and locomotives, some of which had already been in service for over 50 years and had often reached the wear limits.
