Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen mbH (LNVG) in Lower Saxony, Germany, started to set up its own pool of railway vehicles back in 1997. By doing this the LNVG saved time (rolling stock could be ordered before an EVU / rail operator was contracted) and they saved money, by ordering coaches, train sets and locomotives in greater numbers.

Since 2003 various Traxx locomotives have been added to the LNVG fleet. They are now all hired to Metronom Eisenbahngesell-schaft GmbH, the operator that has been contracted by the LNVG. (Originally, the name Metrorail was chosen, but this name was already in use).

Metronom operates trains between Hamburg-Bremen, Hamburg-Uelzen, Uelzen-Gottingen, Hamburg-Luneburg, Hamburg-Torstedt (exploited as Metronom Regional - MEr). In December 2007 the Hamburg-Cuxhaven relation was added to the network, a branch without overhead wiring. The LNVG, only having Traxx units in its pool, decided to order diesel-electrics based on the same platform. However, such a machine did not exist yet and so the LNVG became Bombardier's launching customer for the Traxx Diesel-Electric or Traxx DE.

11 machines were ordered in 2005, resulting in the designated LNVG 246 series. In September 2006 the very first locomotive was presented at the Innotrans international railway fair in Berlin. Then an extensive test program started with three machines, resulting in a successful start of commercial services in December 2007.