Rolling stock systems engineer · for suppliers

I know your specification from the other side.

Five years at Stadler Rail, four of them in system design. I wrote the subsystem specifications suppliers answer to, led those suppliers on the engineering side and reviewed the documents they sent back. Today I sit on your side of the table, before the OEM returns your documents.

The five packages How I read a specification

01Premise

Suppliers rarely fail on the hardware. They fail on requirements the OEM reads differently than they do. Because they lack the inside view.

For four years I had supplier documents on my desk at the OEM. What I sent back was rarely a bad piece of equipment. Usually a temperature class was missing, a test report did not match the mounting location, or the two sides had assumed the interface differently.

From the outside you barely see it. From the inside you see it in the first hour.

An OEM can hire a systems engineer. A supplier cannot buy the OEM's inside view anywhere. Except from someone who has just come from there.

What the specification says

What the OEM means by it

“The device complies with EN 50155.”

Which temperature class, for which mounting location, with which test report?

“Diagnostic data to the TCMS.”

Protocol, data scope, cycle time. And who maintains the mapping.

“The function is safety-related.”

Which SIL lands on your subsystem, and where does your responsibility end?

“All required evidence.”

Negotiable. If you ask before you quote.

02Method

How I read a specification.

Line by line, with a rating for every requirement: compliant, critical, negotiable, cost driver. Plus the questions to put to the OEM before you submit. Before you price it, not after.

Example · door system specification · sec. 4 requirements

REQ-0412The device shall comply with EN 50155.criticalTemperature class and mounting location missing. Which test report applies?

REQ-0417Operation at −40 °C to +70 °C ambient temperature.cost driverDoes this apply to every mounting location or only underfloor?

REQ-0423Diagnostic data shall be provided to the TCMS.criticalProtocol, data scope and cycle time open.

REQ-0431Door release is safety-related.criticalSIL allocation to the subsystem missing.

REQ-0438Fire protection to EN 45545-2, HL3.compliantAttach material list with test evidence.

REQ-0440Shock and vibration to EN 61373, cat. 1, class B.compliantTest report available.

REQ-0452The supplier shall provide all required evidence.negotiableHave the scope fixed before you quote.

REQ-0457Availability of at least 99.5 %.cost driverMethod of proof and observation period open.

Illustrative lines. No customer data.

02bOutlook

The volume is rising. The review is not.

Specifications, evidence and test cases are produced faster today than ever before. And they look good. Whether they are right is still decided by someone who knows how the vehicle hangs together.

I use AI for requirements derivation, consistency checks and test cases. It does the page-turning for me. Not the question of whether the temperature class fits the mounting location. And not the responsibility for it.

A document produced faster is not right faster. It is just there faster.

Where the hours go

Drafting. Text, tables, looking up standards.

Structure. Interfaces, assumptions, chain of evidence.

Judgement. Is this right for this vehicle.

Schematic, not measured data. What shifts is the ratio: the lower bands grow because more is produced at the top.

03Packages for suppliers

Five points where it gets expensive. And the line after that.

Every package has a fixed scope, a fixed price and a written deliverable. No open-ended consultancy contract. Pick the point you are standing at. The sixth package is not an assessment but the ongoing interface to the vehicle manufacturer.

Phase 1 · Tender5 days · fixed price

Reading the specification before you quote

For suppliers responding to an OEM tender.

Scope: I work through the OEM specification and establish what is actually required, what is negotiable, which requirement quietly drives cost and what evidence sits behind each one. Before you price it, not after.
Deliverable: A requirements matrix rated line by line: compliant, critical, negotiable, cost driver. Plus the questions you should put to the OEM before submitting.

Why me

I wrote the specifications suppliers answer to, then led those suppliers. I can see which line will hurt you later and which one the OEM drops straight away once somebody asks.

Enquire about this package

Start smaller

Second Opinion: one document, one day.

Send me whatever is on the table right now: a specification, a schematic, a verification plan or a requirements document. Half a day reading, half a day talking. You get two pages back: what stood out, what I would check first in your position, and what I cannot judge. After that we both know whether this fits.

For OEMs and operators

The other side too.

TCMS architecture review before design freeze, driver's cab operating concept review, and a commissioning readiness check before factory acceptance.

04Background

Where the inside view comes from.

Simeon Bösch+43 677 62079240

Four projects at Stadler Rail, E-Engineering department. Mechatronic subsystems across the whole vehicle, in every project in direct coordination with suppliers and customer.

5years at Stadler Rail, 2020 to 2025

4vehicle projects in three countries

224cars, CQ400 metro, Atlanta

SIL 4safety functions over trainlines

−40 °Cdesign temperature, FLIRT NEX

1stERA type authorisation in Austria

Norway · 2022–2025 · systems engineer

Norske Tog · FLIRT NEX

17 eight-car long-distance EMUs, 200 km/h
TCMS on Industrial Ethernet, PIS network connected through a firewall
Developed the driver's desk, wrote the operating concept and all operating modes
Multi-source traction: battery, 15/25 kV, diesel · designed down to −40 °C

For suppliers this meansI led suppliers on the engineering side across the whole project, from project start.

USA · 2022–2025 · systems engineer

MARTA Atlanta · CQ400 metro

224 cars, around USD 646 million, Stadler's first US metro project
Brake system fully designed, software specifications written
Doors, HVAC, coupler and all car-to-car interfaces
Hard-wired trainlines for SIL 2 and SIL 4 functions

For suppliers this meansBrakes, doors and HVAC integrated on the vehicle side. Exactly where your subsystem plugs in.

Austria · 2022–2025 · systems engineer

ÖBB · KISS double-deck

Framework contract for up to 186 double-deck EMUs, 76 called off
Optimisation of the TCMS train control architecture for the platform

For suppliers this meansI know how a train control architecture dictates your diagnostic and data interface.

Austria · 2020–2022 · commissioning and type testing

Westbahn · KISS 3

First ERA vehicle type authorisation in Austria, under two years from contract
Commissioning of every subsystem through to the complete train
EMC measurements on the traction converters
Running trials with vehicle responsibility during type testing

For suppliers this meansI have seen which documents hold up on the shop floor and which do not.

05Process

How working together starts.

A result first, a decision after. Not the other way round.

A call, 30 minutes

You describe which requirement, which approval or which interface is costing you time. I tell you whether I am the right person. Including when the answer is no.

Assessment, fixed price

I go through your documents and deliver a written result: where the chain of evidence breaks, which interfaces are unresolved, what that costs later in the project. Three days for an overview, or one of the five packages with a fixed scope.

A mandate, if it fits

Only then do you decide about working together longer. On the basis of a result, not on the basis of a presentation.

06Contact

Send me a document.

Or meet me at InnoTrans in Berlin, 22 to 25 September 2026. I will come to your stand.

Write an email Call

Contact+43 677 62079240
simeon@boesch-engineering.ch
LinkedIn

StandardsEN 50155 · 50121 · 50716
EN 45545 · 61373 · TSI
EN 50126 / 50129 up to SIL 4

NDA at any time, including before the first call · References on request