The VT 137 with the running numbers 347 to 396 were diesel railcars for local traffic on secondary and occasionally main routes. Due to their properties, they were also summarized under the designation "225 hp branch line railcars".
The engine was a four-stroke, six-cylinder diesel engine housed in one of the bogies. In contrast to the previous types, these railcars had hydraulic power transmission, which made sense due to the increased engine power. Although the vehicles had regular screw couplers and buffers, trailers were not intended to be attached. This meant that only one powered axle out of two bogies was sufficient, which reduced costs and simplified maintenance. Instead, they had multiple controls.
For use on secondary lines, the passenger compartment was divided up so that there was only one second-class compartment with six seats and 43 third-class seats. With a maximum speed of 80 km/h, it was also possible to cover parts of the route on main lines. However, this should happen less, since the vehicles originally did not have an Indusi.
Of the 40 units built in 1939 and 1940, 31 went to the Bundesbahn after the war. There they were called VT 605 and they were adapted to the new requirements right from the start. This included, above all, a more powerful engine with 330 hp. In addition, the layout of the passenger compartment was changed in some and an Indusi was retrofitted. The Reichsbahn only got four pieces and the remaining five ended up in Czechoslovakia. While only one example of the former was still existing in 1970 and it was decommissioned shortly before the planned renumbering to class 185, two of the Czechoslovak vehicles were converted into electric railcars in 1955. The West German vehicles were renumbered as class 6605 in 1968, but were retired by 1972.