NS Confirms €600M CAF Double-Deck Order Despite UN Listing

UTRECHT, Netherlands – Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is keeping its €600m+ deal with CAF for 60 DDNG double-deck trainsets after CAF was placed in the OHCHR database over its Jerusalem Light Rail role. The contract, signed in 2022, includes 30 four-car and 30 six-car units built on the Civity Duo platform. NS says current European law gives it no basis to exclude the Spanish manufacturer solely on moral grounds.

What Does This Contract Cover?

The DDNG order has a total seating capacity of approximately 30,000 and includes options for more units that could lift capacity to 80,000 seats. Single-deck end cars allow step-free boarding for wheelchair users, while intermediate double-deck cars maximise density. CAF is building the first units at Beasain, Spain, and scheduled commercial service begins in 2029.

The contract also provides for optional international versions for Belgium and Germany. The project is separate from CAF’s Jerusalem Light Rail work, which covers tram supply, modernisation, signalling, power systems, and operations and maintenance with Israeli contractor Shapir.

Key Contract Data

How Does This Compare to Similar Contracts?

Alstom’s order intake in fiscal 2025/26 reached a record €27.6 billion, a 39% increase, leaving a backlog of €104.4 billion; Stadler also improved its margin despite industry cost pressures (Source: RailwayPro, 2026; RailMarket, 2026). CAF’s €600m+ NS contract is therefore not exceptional in European rolling-stock procurement, though it is one of the largest double-deck framework orders placed by NS in this cycle. The controversy also fits a broader procurement pattern: Al Jazeera reported in 2026 that UK public bodies hold billions of dollars in contracts with companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements, meaning courts and parliaments are now being forced to address settlement-related supply chains outside the Netherlands (Source: Al Jazeera, 2026). What is missing from NS’s public statements is the exact value and triggering conditions of the contract’s option tranches, as well as the legal reason why the UN listing was not treated as serious professional misconduct.

Editor’s Analysis

NS has chosen the safer legal lane by treating disqualification as a matter of EU procurement rules, but this does not resolve the reputational or administrative risk. The OHCHR database is becoming the de facto benchmark for settlement-related corporate due diligence, and every exercise of the contract’s options will reopen the issue. If NS’s human-rights criteria differ across other supplier countries, it leaves itself open to legal challenge; the European Commission has separately scrutinised the Netherlands’ privileged relationship with NS (Source: RailwayPro, 2026).

FAQ

Q: Can NS cancel the CAF contract because of the Jerusalem Light Rail project?
A: Under EU procurement rules, exclusion can follow serious professional misconduct, but NS says no such legal basis exists. Legal academics argue that settlement-related activity could qualify if the same test were applied to other cases.

Q: What happens if NS orders the extra CAF trains covered by the option?
A: NS would increase capacity from roughly 30,000 to as many as 80,000 seats under the current framework. Exercise of any option would expose the supplier decision to renewed human-rights scrutiny.

Q: Is CAF banned from bidding in European tenders because of the UN listing?
A: No, the OHCHR database is not a sanctions or debarment list. National buyers may use it to assess risk, but they cannot automatically reject CAF unless their procurement law recognises the conduct as wrongful.