EU closes antitrust probe into Dutch rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen

BRUSSELS, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Thursday it would close its preliminary antitrust probe into allegedly anticompetitive behaviour by state-owned Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) after it instituted a new sales policy for railway vehicles.

The commission was probing the way NS manages its railway vehicles when they reach the end of their useful life.

The company has since published a new policy for phased-out passenger rolling stock, offering for sale the rolling stock that it no longer plans to use under an open process, the Commission said.

NS is the largest passenger transport company in the Netherlands, offering transport domestically and internationally from the Netherlands to Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Britain.

(Reporting by Makini Brice;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)