NS Dubbeldekker Nieuwe Generatie's design

On 5 March 2025, the Dutch Railways (NS) presented a model of their interior for the Dubbeldekker Nieuwe Generatie (Double-Decker New Generation), or DDNG for short. This train will be introduced in 2029 to replace the ageing DDZ and provide additional capacity to intercity services.

I was going to write an overview of the DDNG and realised the train did not have an English Wikipedia page yet, so I created that instead. I’ll use this post to cover the most important details with my commentary.

According to the Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM) the number of passengers travelling per kilometre (passenger-kilometer) increased by 24 percent between 2004 and 2013 despite the average increase in ticket prices.¹ The increase in passengers is attributed to a growing population, a larger number of students, high fuel prices, and more reliable train services. A similar trend showed an increase of 11% in total passenger-kilometers by train between 2015 and 2019 by the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM).

Technical requirements

Planning ahead, on 9 April 2020, the Dutch Railways announced a tender for a double-decker intercity train. This was to supplement existing intercity services and replace the ageing DDZ trains first deployed in the 1990s.

The requirements outlined the need for single and double-decker carriages, the single-deck carriages on either end would be used for level entry for wheelchair users at a platform height of 760 mm. The total capacity of the order was 30,000 seats with an option to extend to 80,000. A train length of 105m and 160m, as with most Dutch trains the DDNG will come in two lengths.

The trains would be electric multiple units, using the Dutch standard of 1.5k V DC with an option to also use 3k V DC, the voltage used for Belgian trains. The trains should be equipped to use ATB (Automatische treinbeïnvloeding), the train protection used across all passenger lines in the Netherlands, except for the High-Speed Line, and ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) to ensure the equipment is future-proof as the country moves from ATB to the European standard.

The tender also mentioned the ability to operate at 160km/h while most rail infrastructure was and is still limited to 140km/h.

Purchase

On 24 August 2022, two years after the tender was released, CAF was announced as the preferred bidder among three other contenders. After the time to appeal by competing bidders ended the contract was signed on 12 December 2022 with CAF. The approximately 600 million euro purchase includes 60 trains; 30 four-car and 30 six-car sets. Although this would be CAF’s first attempt at building a single train with both single and double-deck carriages, they won the contract using the existing and proven CAF Civity family, particularly the Duo model.

In fact NS already uses CAF Civity trains for their Sprinter Nieuwe Generatie (SNG) fleet, first delivered in 2017 and entered in passenger service by the end of December 2018. The Director of New Equipment at NS, Roel Okhuijsen, was quoted praising the good relations between the two companies and CAF’s Commercial Director, Josu Esnaola, reflects the same sentiment.

CAF will also provide single-deck trains, starting 2028, based on the Civity platform for use on the MerwedeLingelijn from Dordrecht to Gorinchem. The trains are operated under the R-Net brand by Qbuzz. These trains will replace the Stadler GTW currently in service as the line will be upgraded to use ERTMS and have a quicker service speed of 160km/h instead of the current 140km/h.

The tender expects deployment of the new train to be in 2028, but the latest announcement pushes this to 2029.

Train design

Before the tender, NS presented their vision for train interiors at the Dutch Design Week 2018. The goal was to increase train capacity while accomodating different groups of passengers like those looking for a social experience and others looking to get work done while travelling.

Fast-forward to 2025, NS has revealed their full-scale mock-up for the DDNG interior they referenced the work started at the 2018 Dutch Design Week. The DDNG will be the first train to include the artefacts of that vision.

Two new seat formations were introduced; a bar table with the seats facing outwards so two passengers can use their laptops and look out of the train window², and raised bench seats at a table with room for luggage below. For the first time on NS trains the first-class compartments will have 2+2 seating instead of the usual 2+1 configuration. I’ve seen some chatter on social media about first-class users being upset by this. I’ve only used first-class on a Dutch train accidentally but I can see the appeal for the 2+1 seating.

The press release mentions almost every seat will have sockets and USB C charging points. USB C!

Looking at the pictures of the seats, they seem to be lacking padding much like the seats of the new ICNG trains. I wish more modern trains provided comfortable seating on intercity trains. The colour of the seats seems to be a desaturated version of the seats used in current trains, hard to say how this would feel like without being there in person.

Sustainability

From the tender and during the design process some sustainability decisions can be mentioned. In the 2022 NS Annual Report, we are told that from ’experiences in the modernisation of VIRM double-decker trains’, where a lot of care was taken to reuse material, NS has asked for a material passport for the DDNG. This documents the origin of materials used allowing to track recyclability metrics of the trains when it comes to decomissioning. This procurement and design procedure was done to meet Eurospec specifications, a collaboration between DB, SNCF, ÖBB, SBB, RDG and NS. The DDNG will be the first train with a material passport.

Effort is also placed on reducing the weight of the trains requiring less build material but also lowering the energy required to operate the trains.

Fin

I’ll keep a look out for more updates regarding the DDNG, and hope to be able to ride them in the future.