Redundant HEA hopper wagon chassis were turned into MEA wagons with the addition of a steel box body. Early conversions were ordered by Railfreight and these were subsequently divided up equally between Mainline Freight, Loadhaul and Transrail. Mainline and Loadhaul ordered further batches and, after they inherited all three fleets, EWS continued to place orders for them. The most recent were built in 2004. The MFA wagons were created by cutting down MEA wagons to restrict the loads they could carry. They are found in engineers trains.