Purpose. Improving the efficiency of the use of locomotives by choosing a rational maintenance system that takes into account the assessment of the effect of dependent failures on the cost of their life cycle is the main purpose of this paper. Methodology. The relevance of introducing LCC (Life Cycle Cost) approaches in locomotive facilities is explained by the introduction of new locomotives with on-board control and diagnostic systems, as well as the development of the theory of traction rolling stock maintenance systems. The cost of a locomotive as a traction unit ceases to be the determining factor. This is because the locomotive maintenance and repair cost for the entire period of its operation is much higher than the initial cost of the locomotive. The paper analyses the existing approaches to managing the cost of the life cycle of locomotives at the stages of selecting, updating, upgrading and operating the traction rolling stock. The necessity of improving the methods for assessing the degree of influence of reliability indicators of locomotive assemblies on the choice of the maintenance system and the cost of the locomotive life cycle is substantiated. Findings. It is proposed to use the concept of «the effect of dependent failures» when calculating the cost of locomotive renewal after unscheduled repairs and its life cycle cost. We improved the methods for determining the cost of unscheduled repairs, taking into account dependent failures and the coefficient of assessment of the effect of dependent node failure on the locomotive maintenance system. The proposed coefficient will determine the nodes, the failure of which affects the renewal cost more than their nominal value. It will also help to take into account the probable losses due to node failure during the development and adjustment of the locomotive maintenance system. Originality. For the first time, it is proposed to use the concept of the effect of dependent failures to calculate the locomotive renewal cost when performing unscheduled repairs, as well as the locomotive life cycle cost. Practical value. The improved calculation method for determining the cost of unplanned repairs with account taken of dependent failures can be used to compare and evaluate different variants of the locomotive maintenance system and to develop the locomotive diagnostic systems.