A governed platform connects planning, operations and enterprise systems while reducing total run cost
Every day, Dutch Railways helps keep the Netherlands moving, with millions of passengers relying on safe, clean and timely rail service. Behind that service is a business-critical maintenance operation where rolling stock must be maintained on schedule, available for service and aligned with regulatory requirements.
As operational needs evolved, Dutch Railways saw an opportunity to modernize the Maximo environment supporting this work. Maintenance data needed to connect more effectively across planning, execution, cleaning partners, KPI reporting and enterprise systems, while the underlying infrastructure, database technology and integrations needed greater scalability, resilience and governance.
The challenge was to move from Maximo 7.6 to IBM Maximo Application Suite 9.0 while modernizing the broader IT foundation without disrupting daily rail operations. Dutch Railways needed a governed platform to strengthen operational control and improve decisions about train readiness and availability.
Dutch Railways completed more than a platform upgrade: a controlled 4-in-1 transformation with IBM. The program combined four major moves: upgrading from IBM Maximo 7.6 to IBM® Maximo® Application Suite 9.0, moving from on-premises infrastructure to Microsoft Azure, migrating from Oracle to Azure SQL Managed Instance and redesigning integrations around an API-first architecture.
Together, these changes gave Dutch Railways a governed platform for planning, execution and data sharing. The more robust IT foundation strengthened the operational role of Maximo, making trusted maintenance data easier to connect across planning, execution, cleaning, KPI reporting and enterprise systems.
This helps teams and connected systems make more informed decisions about train readiness, availability and business-critical maintenance work. Dutch Railways managed the transformation internally, with biweekly alignment with IBM, Microsoft and Red Hat.
With IBM Maximo Application Suite at the core, Dutch Railways strengthened Maximo’s role as a strategic hub for maintenance and operational decision-making. The platform supports governed maintenance of rolling stock, helping teams demonstrate that trains are maintained on time, aligned with regulations and ready for safe, clean and high-quality service. By moving Maximo to Microsoft Azure, Dutch Railways reduced total run cost by 50% while improving the scalability and resilience of its IT foundation.
Through more than 30 API-based integrations, Maximo connects planning, maintenance execution, cleaning operations, KPI reporting and enterprise systems. Data from train sensors, drivers and conductors can flow into Maximo as service requests, while planning applications can use Maximo data to understand rolling stock availability for the timetable. This helps Dutch Railways improve operational control, strengthen governance and support daily rail service with more trusted data.
Dutch Railways is the Netherlands’ largest passenger rail operator and a key part of the national mobility network. With 700+ trains and around one million passengers each day, Dutch Railways connects cities, regions and international destinations while working to make rail travel safe, reliable, comfortable and sustainable.
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Examples presented as illustrative only. Actual results will vary based on client configurations and conditions and, therefore, generally expected results cannot be provided.