Reliability and maintainability as key driver for rolling stock acquisition

The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) - the national state owned railway operator in the Netherlands - has developed and implemented a NS specific Design for R&M methodology, with the objective to effectively and timely acquire around 250 reliable and available trains at known life cycle cost, from three different manufacturers, as part of its € 2.5 billion worth “New Rolling Stock” program. This paper presents this methodology, illustrating the key drivers for success, lessons learned, application measures, and results.