The disclosure relates to a railway vehicle component group for generating an electronic life history of a machine component. The railway vehicle component group includes a machine component having a storage unit arranged in or on the machine component, and at least one control unit suitable for bidirectional communication with the machine component, wherein operating data is configured to be generated in the control unit. The storage unit is suitable at least for bidirectional communication with the control unit, wherein a storage of the operating data generated via the control unit is provided during the operation of the machine component by at least the bidirectional communication in order to generate an electronic life history of the machine component. The storage unit also has an electronic type label of the machine component. The disclosure also relates to a method for generating a life history of a machine component, as well as a service method for maintenance.