In 1954, the East German Reichsbahn ordered three sets of the Ganz Hargita for use on international services which were also used in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Each set consisted of four cars, of which the outer ones each had a 450 hp diesel engine. Each engine rested above a three-axle bogie and powered two axles via a mechanical gearbox, resulting in a top speed of 125 km/h. Each train had 166 regular seats and 32 additional ones in the dining compartment.

In the first few years they were used on services between Berlin and Hamburg, across the inner-German border. There it was quickly found out that their total power of 900 hp was not enough. Later they could be found on the line between Berlin, Prague and Vienna. After the introduction of the VT 18.16 they were only used on domestic lines and withdrawn in the seventies.