In the seventies, ÖBB tried to increasingly electrify shunting service, which was partly due to the oil crisis. To test a locomotive with three-phase traction motors, they loaned the E 1200 built by Henschel for the Ruhrkohle AG. Since the trials on Austrian lines like the Semmering were successful, SGP designed the class 1063 on the basis of the E 1200.
It stood on two two-axle bogies and had a central cab with a pantograph on the roof. The first five delivered 1,520 kW and the remaining 45 had an increased output of 2,000 kW. The first 37 were not only equipped for 15 kW and 16.7 Hz, but also for 25 kV and 50 Hz. Thanks to their top speed of 80 or 100 km/h, they are not only being used for shunting, but also for short-distance freight trains.
A development of the 1063 is the class 1163 introduced in 1994. In 2018, the ÖBB planned to modify the 1063 for use in areas where not all tracks are electrified. After some tests with batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, the rebuilding of 25 locomotives with batteries was envisaged. But as the demand for shunters dropped, this plan was not implemented. Meanhwile, some have already been retired.
