Since the late nineties an increasing attention for the performance (reliability, availability and punctuality) of railway systems in the Netherlands could be seen. This has led to an increasing emphasis on RAMS and the application of EN 50126. For the project Hanzelijn (a new 55 km line between Lelystad and Zwolle in the Netherlands), this was reason to set up a set of RAMS requirements early in the project. A consortium of Simtech, Movares (formerly Holland Railconsult) and other partners performed a study to show the feasibility of the required performance based on the present design. The study also revealed the maintenance needs and the expected life cycle costs. This article shows how this study was performed and gives an overview of the results. The study gives insight in the contribution of all subsystems of Hanzelijn to the overall RAMS performance. The study concludes that not all RAMS requirements can be met. Based on these results the project management of Hanzelijn is considering the need to adapt these requirements. The results of the study can be used in a decision process to select other types of (sub)systems for the Hanzelijn. It can also be helpful for the tendering of subsystems.