In the late eighties, the SBB ordered a new type of fast electric locomotives with three-phase traction motors from the SLM, in a program called “Lok 2000”. It was to have a top speed of 200 km/h and enough starting tractive effort to use it in freight service. Its AC traction equipment was based on the experiences from the Re 456 and was delivered by ABB. In 1989, 24 were ordered for passenger service and 75 for the rolling highway and intermodal service provided by Hupac. Their initial designation was Re 4/4^VI, but that was changed to Re 460 before the delivery of the first locomotive in 1989. A total of 119 had been built by 1996. The same design is being used in Finland as Sr2, in Norway as El 18 and two have also been sold to the Kowloon-Canton Railway in Hong Kong. The Re 465 of the BLS is a more powerful development.

The Re 460 was the last SBB locomotive that was specifically designed for the needs of a single customer, today standard designs are only adapted for specific requirements. They replaced the last old electric locomotives from the 20s to 40s and were used equally in passenger and freight service. In 1999, 40 came to SBB Cargo and the rest remained in passenger service. Instead of the planned multi-system variant of the Re 460, SBB instead ordered the cheaper Bombardier TRAXX as Re 482 freight locomotive. Thanks to this, 24 Re 460 of SBB Cargo could be given back to the passenger branch. In 2022, SBB had completed a rebuilding program where the GTO converters were replaced by IGBT to save power.