The Netherlands - Articles and news items

HSL-Zuid: ready, steady, go!

Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 6 February 2007 /

In 2007, the High-Speed Line South will connect The Netherlands with the European high-speed railway network. By then, high-speed train connections will have been established, not only to Brussels and Paris, but also within The Netherlands itself.

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Connected by NS – the future is accessible

Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 6 February 2007 /

Netherlands Railways (NS) has a strong ambition – to provide seamless travel at any time, without giving it a second thought. The company wants to provide attractive packages, not only for train journeys, but combining various modes of transport: bicycle, car, bus, tram, metro and airplane. Customers will get new, personalised services and the essence of our Vision for 2020 is that travelling time is one’s own time.

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Maintenance philosophy in a privatised market

Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 31 May 2006 /

Politically inspired developments in the rail infrastructure environment in the 1980s and 1990s have led to varying degrees of privatisation of construction and maintenance activities.

Firstly, politicians and taxpayers realised that they were paying substantial amounts of money for something which was not patently efficient. Secondly, the (European) political strategy to introduce competition into the rail transportation market meant that the primary role of the railways as train operating companies had to put infrastructure availability at arm’s length. Thirdly, it was recognised that privatisation would bring out the best qualities in the infra management side. That is the legal and financial ownership, making safe and dependable slots available for train operating companies, communicating with local government and guaranteeing system safety. It would also allow the dynamics and the detailed local knowledge of the marketplace to optimise production, productivity, direct response and innovation. It would make both infra management and the contractor accountable and transparent in the balance between costs and the product quality rendered.

These developments led to the formation of separate infra management companies with a firm goal of transparent and preferably cheaper pricing.

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The ProRail outsourcing way

Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 14 February 2006 /

ProRail, the owner of the Dutch railway network, has gone further than most European rail infrastructure companies in putting maintenance and renewal work out to tender. James Abbott, European Railway Review’s Technical Editor asks the questions that matter to two of ProRail’s employees – Mr. Jan Swier, Strategic Advisor for Maintenance and Renewals and Mr. Anthonie Bauer, Director of Infrastructure Management.

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Innovative solutions to old problems

Issue 4 2005, Past issues / 3 November 2005 /

Railways are of great social importance. In The Netherlands, a million passengers take the train each day and an increasing amount of freight traffic also goes by rail. Without a safe and reliable network with sufficient capacity, everything would grind to a halt. It is one of the tasks of ProRail, which manages the Dutch network, to ensure that the rail infrastructure is adequate, reliable and safe.

Safeguarding the performance and quality of that infrastructure is a continuous process. The Dutch Government requires regular inspections of track and points to check that lines are safe and to make sure that environmental influences are not compromising the system. ProRail also makes time to inspect other components, such as overhead power lines and signals. Whether new or long-standing, the entire infrastructure will need maintenance or replacement eventually. (more…)

A vital instrument in asset management

Issue 3 2005, Past issues / 23 August 2005 /

In the last two years the roll-out of the innovative weigh-in-motion (WIM) system Quo Vadis has taken place on the Dutch rail network. This system, developed by ProRail, Baas R&D and NedTrain Consulting, has been installed in 38 locations, allowing the measurement of 80% of traffic movements and 96% of ton kilometres. Identification of trains is functioning well, using systems that are also used for traffic control purposes.

The development of Quo Vadis was initiated by the implementation of EU directive 2001/14 within The Netherlands₁. It has cost €3.5 million (excluding the NedTrain part). This directive specifies that the track access charge must be cost-related, which is why a mixture of train kilometres, tonne kilometres, stops and energy consumption was chosen as its basis. The choice of measuring locations is optimised using a calculation model, based upon the forthcoming timetable. Quo Vadis has been developed for measuring the loads of passing trains, which are a measure of the maintenance requirements of the superstructure₂. The superstructure (or track system) is one of the primary cost drivers in railway maintenance and renewal₃. The Quo Vadis measurements are quickly available; the operators can easily track their haulage and access charging online via the Internet.

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The Betuweroute

Issue 1 2005, Past issues / 2 March 2005 /

In part 1 of his article on the Betuweroute project, Patrick Buck looks at the background and characteristics of the route.

In 1995, the Dutch government took the decision to construct the Betuweroute: a freight line between the port of Rotterdam and the German border.

Preparatory work was initiated shortly after this. Now, almost ten years on, 80% of the work is complete and the crucial phase of testing the various technical systems is about to get underway.

The Betuweroute will become operational in 2007. This article discusses the background to the decision to construct the Betuweroute and provides an overall description of the largest rail construction project ever undertaken in The Netherlands. (more…)