These were built by British Railways at its Derby Works. They consisted of 147 2-car, five 3-car and six 4-car units, built between 1958 and 1961. This totalled 210 powered vehicles and 123 trailer cars and they were generically known as ‘Derby Lightweights’. However, they differed considerably from the earlier batch, of similar name, built from 1954. The units were allocated to the London Midland, Eastern and North Eastern regions. Each two car set could accommodate 117 passengers and they were suitable for use on branch lines and local services. They later became more widespread in their use, some extending to the Southern and Western regions. Vehicle 51562 was the one thousandth DMU car to be built at Derby and has been preserved at the National Railway Museum.

The first vehicle was withdrawn in 1964, following an accident, but most survived until the early 1990s, when major withdrawals took place with the arrival of the second generation units ordered by Regional Railways. A number carried Network SouthEast livery and the last unit was withdrawn in October 1993. Over 50 vehicles have passed to heritage railways.