THE DUTCH NATIONAL OPERATOR NS RENEWS ITS TRUST IN CAF AND AWARDS 60 DOUBLE-DECKER TRAINS CONTRACT

The Dutch national operator NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), which operates commuter and intercity trains on the Dutch Main Rail Network , has placed its trust in CAF once again, by ordering a new fleet of double-deck trains for intercity services.

This new contract follows the successful SNG-Civity train sets for commuter services, of which the last of in total 206 train sets are currently being delivered. The new contract consists of the supply of 30x 4-car units and 30x 6-car units, as well as technical support for maintenance, with NS carrying out the maintenance itself. The value of the newly signed contract amounts to more than €600M and includes additional options for further units which would increase this amount. 

NS is the state-owned operator in The Netherlands and one of the leading companies in the European railway sector. Once again, this project provides evidence of the success of the Civity platform developed by CAF for Suburban, Intercity and Regional services on the European market, as it has been used for various projects performed in countries such as Holland, the United Kingdom, Sweden or Italy. 

This new project is in line with the business strategy the Company announced on 1st December during the presentation of its 2026 Strategic Plan, when it stressed how one of CAF's priorities was the company's commitment to the European market, given its significant business volume and recurring activity in that market, as well as its strong market position and appropriateness of its range of solutions. 

The main features of the units to be supplied by CAF combine high capacity and easy vehicle accessibility. Each train set therefore consists of a combination of single deck and double deck cars, the single deck cars offering level access for persons with reduced mobility. The trains will have a maximum speed of 160 km/h. This contract marks a milestone as this is the first customer to receive double-decker Civity platform units. 

The project is part of NS' ongoing plans to renew its current double-decker fleet, whilst also increasing its service capacity for the next few years. The first units are scheduled for operation on the Intercity routes that cross the entire country by 2028, with the possibility to exercise some of the extension options for additional units, or the implementation of train versions that can run on cross-border routes to other countries such as Germany and Belgium. 

It should be stressed that CAF's relationship with the Dutch operator dates back many years as CAF entered into its first contract with NS in 2014. That contract consisted in the production of 118 Civity platform suburban trains. Subsequently, in late 2018, this contract was extended with an additional 88 units, which, given the significance of the customer and the value of the contract (close to €1 billion) was one of the most significant contracts concluded by CAF in Europe.

www.caf.net

  Ask For More Information…