French president Nicolas Sarkozy wants to cut back on privileges of state-employees. For example, engineers on the French National Railroad Company (SNCF) can retire at the age of 50, with full pensions. AFAIK, this rule dates from the steam-era, when it may have been justified. But today, with diesel or electric engines, I don't see any reason for it.
Heavy rains and landslides blocked the Bernina-road and railway in Southeastern Switzerland. The Bernina-Railway is the highest European line to cross the alps in open ROW, i.e. not in a tunnel. Thursday, the railroad planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the line. I am curios whether it will be reopend in time
Meanwhile, the final curtain fell for the old Rotterdam Central Station here in my home town. The square in front of it has been a construction site for some time. Now it is time for the old station building to be razed and replaced by a new, state of the art building ready for the high speed service to the rest of Europe and the ever growing number of domestic travellers.
Last sunday the mayor, mr. Ivo Opstelten, pushed a button and a curtain fell over the central portion of the building, the glass wall of the station hall. The mayor had to threaten the curtain because it did not fall down all at once. The station, on the location of the former Rotterdam DP station (DP means Delftse Poort, named for the gate in the road to Delft), was designed by architect Sybold van Ravensteijn as a replacement for wardamaged DP, Van Ravensteijn is known as the most demolished architect of the Netherlands. He build a number of buildings for the railroad, many have seen been demolished to make way for betterments of the railroad.
The curtain has a picture of the station when it was opened in 1957. See the link to the Dutch newssite: http://www.nufoto.nl/2007/09/02/het-doek-is-gevallen-voor-rotterdam-cs/
Later the letters "Centraal Station" on the roof will be symbolically changed to "traan laten" (shed a tear).
The temporary station is located to the side of the old one and could only be build when te construction of the extension of the underground was far enough along (the extension will connect to the former Hofpleinline in the north of the city which now operates as the somewhat illfated Randstadrail).
greetings,
Marc Immeker
The infrastructure will still belang to the Federal state, but is being leased to the Rw for 15 years. Competing railroad-companies would have preferred a different solution because they fear the infrastructure-branch of the German Federal Rw would give privileged treatment to the train-operating branches of the same DB.
Finally, DB is in part a worldwide logistics-business after having bought Stinnes, which is now a daughter of DB. So, the German taxpayer shares the risks of logistics in other countries and continents. IMHO, separation of infrastructure and train-operation would have been a better solution. The latter could be fully privatised. However, independently which solution you choose, the suburban and commuter-trains need subsidies to run. There is no way to run an unsubsidized commuter-business.
BTW, if I understood Dutch correctly, part of the cargo of the freight train that almost collided with a passenger-train in Tilburg was polypropenol, i.e. hazardous material.
By thursday, German locomotive-engineers want to go on strike. Freight will be hit first. German Federal Railways threatened to sue every engineer who stops his trains on the road instead of driving to the next station or siding.
One almost crash in the Netherlands, near Tilburg station:
http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/news.aspx?id=85024
The NS passenger train had 10 passengers, the diesel is a Railion emd class 66 type. Distance between the trains was 3 meters.
Spectacular crash in Germany:
In Lippstadt, North Rhine Westfalia, two WLE (Westfälische Landeseisenbahn, a historic "private" carrier with its own tracks, trains collided in the night. One train was an empty limestone unit train and the other a loaded one (1800 tonnes). According to the police report, one buffer was catapulted away and was found some 60-70 meters away in a neigbouring warehouse building of the Hellawerke Nord. Several empty cars were pushed off the tracks. One engineer was hospitalized, the other was not injured and a student engineer lightly.
Full police story in german here on the privatbahnforum.de website:
http://www.privatbahnforum.de/read.php?1,97213,97222.
pictures here:
http://www.wieboldtv.de/pageID_4831286.html (under: zugunglück in Lippstadt)
edit: historic "private" carrier: historic in that it was build over a century ago under the Prussian Kleinbahn act; private in that it is owned by government bodies. These kind of railways were formerly know as Nicht Bundeseigene Bahnen or non federally owned railroads. WLE moves a lot of limestone between quarries and cement factories.
some recent Dutch news:
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) are going to lower the price of tickets by 0.5 % starting decemebr 2007.
Ns are checking both office and trains personnel for use of alcohol. No sanctions were announced. This is to get a study about alcohol abuse and test results are anonimous. About 25.000 people work for the railroad.
An engineer for Arriva (operator of diesel branchlines in the northern provinces of Friesland and Groningen) recently lost half his train after a station stop. Only 2 stations further did he notice something wrong. From newspaper articles it is not clear if the train consisted of 2 dmu's or if a 2 car dmu split in 2, the latter seems more likely. Somehow the automatic brake did not work after the separation. The line was closed for 2.5 hours.
Latest german news:
Privatisation of DB got green light for the government. Up to 25 % will be offered.
Meanwhile, even DB now complains that there is not enough trackcapacity. And that after 10 years of cutting back on maintenance, removal of sidings and passing tracks etc.
deleted- I put this on the wrong thread
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Journalists don't like to report good news. Good news = no news.
So, it is always more interesting for them to write and talk about the negative things.
One thing is absolutely clear: we need that capacity. The Netherlands is the major hub for freight in Europe. Period. Hamburg and Antwerp are second and third but lack the waterways.
This has been national policy here in the Netherlands for quite some time now.
One reason the cost is so large is simply that many measures were taken to satisfy all interests. So we have tunnels where bridges would have been ok, just to save some pieces of nature (my opinion: we don't have any nature anymore in the Netherlands, only parks where we preserve what remains of nature. These days we "make" nature when we have large infrastructural projects and housing developments.)
Off course, with every large project there are things that can and will go wrong. When the Betuweroute was dreamed up in the early eighties no one could foresee what would happen in Europe. No Iron Curtain, Eastern Bloc countries members of the EU, let alone projects like the common market (remember "1992"?) and Euro. One of the things is open access. Trans European Freigth corridors actively being promoted by the EU another. Let alone ECTS / ERTMS.
The Betuweroute is the one of the first major lines to be equipped with this modern signalling system. That means all kind of problems can and will come up and have to be dealt with for the first time.
Just the other day a leading Dutch economist (I think he is already retired) was quoted in my newspaper doubting the whole thing. And that on the day it was already common knowledge that a recordbreaking 41.5 million tons have been transported by rail in the Netherlands. Compare that to the 15 million or so in 1995. To govern is to look ahead ("regeren is vooruit zien") as the Dutch saying goes. You have to invest in order to reap the rewards (de kost gaat voor de baat uit) is another, not to mention that the early bird catches the worm. People have formed their opinions by way of coloured reporting. Most journalist in the Netherlands lean left so the greenies were given ample air time. Almost never heard the people that have to transport goods (and thus finance my hobby).
By the way, in all the years of talking about the Betuweroute I have yet to see a comment from people living in the province of Noord-Brabant. Up to now they had to cope with most of the freighttraffic going to Germany, mostly at night too. The new line avoids large concentrations of people, being mostly parallel to motorway A15 / E31. And that motorway makes more noise too.
Places that will see less freigth trains (west to east)( and remember the trains go right through the city)( january first 2007 figures):
Dordrecht: 118,000 inhabitants
Breda: 170,000
Tilburg: 201,000
Eindhoven: 209,000
Helmond: 86,000
Venlo: 92,000
Compare that to towns and small cities along the Betuweroute:
Papendrecht: 31,000
Gorinchem: 34,000
Hardinxsveld-Giessendam: 18,000
Geldermalsen: 26,000
Leerdam: 20,000
Tiel: 41,000
Elst: 43,000 (total municipality)
As for the number of trains. This year (untill november) there will be more testing of safety systems and while that goes on there also will be 50 freight trains per week using the line commercially in both directions. In 2008 that increases to 50 per day and direction. Design capacity is 10 trains per hour per direction per day.
The fact that protesters managed to block the first official train, with locomotives and cars from the freigth railroads, is just irritating. Especially if you are standing on a bridge waiting for it to come by and all that you see are those protesters on the tracks and rain nearby.
According to Prorail the fact that the official train never ran farther than the tunnel where the Betuweroute starts (and next to the humpyard at Kijfhoek where it started) had nothing to do with the actions of the protesters from Groenfront! Yea right!
Well, later this month I have a week off from work so I will see what moves and when.
Greetings,
'Strong increase in goods transport by rail a stroke of luck to Betuwe Line'
06-12-2007
HOOGVLIET - The increase in transportation of goods by rail in the Netherlands was far greater last year than expected based on the prognoses for the Betuwe Line. This became clear from the book 'Spoor in Cijfers 2007' (‘Rails in Figures 2007') published by information bureau Rail Cargo Information Netherlands.
Full story here: http://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/news/newsservice/12062007_33.jsp
Elsewhere on the Port of Rotterdam site I came upon this table showing modal split:
P.S. Saturday will finally see the opening of the Betuweroute by queen Beatrix, it is going to be a live event on Dutch public television.
Some recent Dutch items:
- SBB/CFF, the Swiss federal railroad annouced it now operates loose car trains 3 times a week between Cologne and Rotterdam. The trains are not (yet?) run by SBB themselves but rather by Veolia and RRF (Rotterdam Rail Feeding) does the shunting in Rotterdam. In Cologne there is a connection with SBB trains to and from Switzerland and Italy. http://www.sbbcargo.com/index/mec_news.htm?memi=76, via rolandrail.net.
- The SNCF Fret Vossloh MaK G2000 locomotives are still standing at Nedtrains workshop in Rotterdam Fijenoord. Timetable paths have been given weeks ago but when they will start operating?
- The opening day of the Betuweroute is approaching. The date is june 16 2007.
- A number of Railion Netherlands class 6400 freigth locos are undergoing a rebuilding and repainting for service with mothercompany Railion DB logistics in Germany. They now appear in red with new thin silver stack on the short hood. link to picture via rolandrail.net:
http://www.rolandrail.net/nieuws/07/fp_01750.htm
Nickname now seems to be shark (sometimes sharky), not the Dutch word for it, haai, apparently. Earlier, 6400's operating in Germany got the nickname Duitse Herder (German Shepherd dog) and those operating in Belgium got the nickname Vlaamse Reus, a rabbit race from that country. There is a picture somewhere with a shark, dog and rabbit on the point of a freight train!
Check this site:
http://www.ferrovie.it/ferrovie.vis/timdettvp.php?id=5858
Under Emilia Romagna (a region in northern Italy, just south of the Po river I think) there are two railroads named Azienda Trasporti Consorziali, one with Modena and one with Bologna in the name, you can click on it. The one with Modena shows a train on its home page. That one operates the railroad line Sassuolo-Modena. There is also a company Azienda Consorziali Trasporti Reggio Emilia
On the other hand, if the locomotives in question have green cabs and silver/aluminium hoods they may well be lease locomotives for Italy or elsewhere as Angel Trains uses this color combination.
Bingo. Some further clicking and gambling on the meaning of Italian words (ferroviario merci meaning freight trains) got me to this link:
http://www.actre.it/trasporto_specializzati/catalogo_dinazzano.php. Found it under that 3rd name. Fom past reports in German magazines I remember that they used to buy second hand German Locomotives and passenger trains. The red and silver one is probably the loco in question and the orange one is a Henschel I think.
snipped for brevity
marcimmeker wrote:Apparently there is also a private railroad company in Italy under the name of ATC.
Apparently there is also a private railroad company in Italy under the name of ATC.
Hmm, I'm aware of an RTC (Rail Traction Company), and Angel Trains does lease locomotives in Italy, I'll do some digging and see if I can find an ATC. The paint is right for the leasing company, though.
The overhead between Zevenaar and Emmerich will be changed over to either the German system of 15000v AC or the 25000v AC of the Betuweroute. I forgot which it is. The 1500v DC will be gone when the Betuweroute is in full operation. As for initial traffic, I think there will be 10 trains in each direction. This is done mostly to test the system as apparently not everthing is yet fully operational. It will be mostly to test procedures etc. and how to cope with the sometimes chaotic situation at Emmerich. The whole line from the harbor in Rotterdam to Zevenaar will be under the control of the tower at Kijfhoek yard. Supposedly this should streamline operations. As usual with these large projects it is wait and see how in actually works.And the same with SNCF Fret. For their sake I hope they make it work but I am not holding my breath....Anyway, it sometimes looks as if everybody has rediscovered freight trains and it is almost impossible to keep up to date. Especially as most contracts seem to be relatively short. Couple this to the system changes at the borders and it is not easy to follow who has the contract and who are subcontractors in certain countries.Meanwhile Railion NL and ACTS are taking steps to get enough qualified engineers by setting up a new system of schooling via the regular Dutch School system. DLC in belgium seeks 100 new engineers and German private operators are now actively seekingstaff via hobby forums like www.privatbahforum.de!And we aren't even talking about Romanian locomotives going to Hungary, Austrian locomotives going to Sweden etc!greetings,Marc Immeker
The overhead between Zevenaar and Emmerich will be changed over to either the German system of 15000v AC or the 25000v AC of the Betuweroute. I forgot which it is. The 1500v DC will be gone when the Betuweroute is in full operation. As for initial traffic, I think there will be 10 trains in each direction. This is done mostly to test the system as apparently not everthing is yet fully operational. It will be mostly to test procedures etc. and how to cope with the sometimes chaotic situation at Emmerich. The whole line from the harbor in Rotterdam to Zevenaar will be under the control of the tower at Kijfhoek yard. Supposedly this should streamline operations. As usual with these large projects it is wait and see how in actually works.
And the same with SNCF Fret. For their sake I hope they make it work but I am not holding my breath....
Anyway, it sometimes looks as if everybody has rediscovered freight trains and it is almost impossible to keep up to date. Especially as most contracts seem to be relatively short. Couple this to the system changes at the borders and it is not easy to follow who has the contract and who are subcontractors in certain countries.
Meanwhile Railion NL and ACTS are taking steps to get enough qualified engineers by setting up a new system of schooling via the regular Dutch School system. DLC in belgium seeks 100 new engineers and German private operators are now actively seekingstaff via hobby forums like www.privatbahforum.de!
And we aren't even talking about Romanian locomotives going to Hungary, Austrian locomotives going to Sweden etc!
Nor, British Electrics going to Bulgaria. It looks like most of the British Class 87 locos will be going there.
beaulieu wrote: Marc, I was under the impression that the short section of Overhead between Zevenaar and the German border would be at 25Kv. Is DB going to feed the power or is ProRail going to buy Frequency Convertors? Is it still planned to initially operate the Betuweroute on the one train per track basis, due to the signalling system not being ready? ATC is Angel Trains Cargo a leasing company locomotives painted in their paint scheme usually are going for shorter term leases or to a company that doesn't have its own paint scheme. With reference to SNCF Fret, we will see how long it lasts. they probably will do alright in other countries free from their Union in France. Did you see that Hupac has started a new service from Antwerp to Perpignan, and that SNCF Fret will be the operator, I wonder how long that will last.
Marc, I was under the impression that the short section of Overhead between Zevenaar and the German border would be at 25Kv. Is DB going to feed the power or is ProRail going to buy Frequency Convertors? Is it still planned to initially operate the Betuweroute on the one train per track basis, due to the signalling system not being ready?
ATC is Angel Trains Cargo a leasing company locomotives painted in their paint scheme usually are going for shorter term leases or to a company that doesn't have its own paint scheme.
With reference to SNCF Fret, we will see how long it lasts. they probably will do alright in other countries free from their Union in France. Did you see that Hupac has started a new service from Antwerp to Perpignan, and that SNCF Fret will be the operator, I wonder how long that will last.
It's been some time since the last report. Railroads in the Netherlands are still busy, delays all around for freight and a johnny come lately is awakening.
There are still problems with the border crossings between the Netherlands and Germany.
First there where problems at Almelo where the tracks are being lowered. The auxiliary track was constructed on schedule but the safety systems didn't work properly. All passenger service from Amsterdam/The Hague/ Rottedam via Amersfoort-Deventer-Almelo to Hengelo and Enschede was suspended (passengers being bussed to Hengelo) but for international service Amsterdam - Bad Bentheim (borderstation and changeover from 1500V dc to 15000V AC) and onward to Berlin. Some freight was running also.
This weekend one of the 2 tracks between Zevenaar (NL) and Emmerich (D-changeover from 1500V dc to 15000V AC, it is the important Arnhem-Oberhasuen line) is out of action. The local Zevenaar dispatcher was warned on may 12th that the track was taken out. When he asked for how long, the answer was: till may 16th... And no advance warning so no contingency scheduling. Venlo is very busy already so more delays. Railion NL went so far as to send a special bulletin to its customers.
The container terminals in the harbor here in Rotterdam also frequently have problems. Yesterday one of the ECT terminals was out of action. Guess who can tell the customers...
Meanwhile some weeks ago 2 Vossloh MaK type G2000 BB locomotives have been delivered to SNCF Fret for service in the Netherlands and Belgium. The have not yet been allowed to operate in the Netherlands and stand around the Nedtrain workshop here in Rotterdam. They are painted in the same colors as the Rail4chem locos (light green version, that is).
It seems that SNCF is finally getting serious abound open access! They have to as more and more operators get there licenses to run trains in France. Amongst others: the continental European subsidiary of British EWS (Euro Cargo Rail), Seco Rail (French railroad maintenance company), Veolia (part of Vivendi I believe and mostly active in Germany (formerly Connex) and lately also here in the Netherlands). Strangely enough no French electrics are yet scheduled to run through to the Netherlands. Northernmost point for french electrics is the big yard in Antwerp Belgium, almost literally just a stone's throw away from the border with the Netherlands.
June 16th is the big day for the (in)famous Betuweroute. That day queen Beatrix will finally officially open dedicated freight railroad from the harbor at Rotterdam to the border at Zevenaar/Emmerich. The queen will virtually open the line at Baerndrecht station and the first train then will leave Kijfhoek humpyard just to the south. Then she will visit the party on the roof of the new Barendrecht station (Barendrecht has 9 through tracks, 4 domestic passenger, 2 high speed domestic and international passenger and 3 freight tracks). The station is a big concrete and steel box with a new entry on top, 400 parking places and a park.
This link to the German Privatbahnforum, http://www.privatbahnforum.de/read.php?1,92984,92984, shows you modern European diesel locomotives of two types. The orange Seco Rail loco is a Vossloh MaK G1206 (G=Gelenkwellen or hydraulic transmission, 1500 kW MTU diesel, not the usual Caterpillar 3512B), the very light gray loco is a Vossloh Mak G2000 (2240 kW Caterpillar 3516 B-HD) for EWS subsidiary Euro cargo Rail and the aluminium and green colored loco is for ATC, an Italian operator. The SNCF Fret loco's look the same colorwise.
That is it for now.
futuremodal wrote: martin.knoepfel wrote: 2006, rail-freight through the Swiss Alps increased by 6,5 % to 25,2 million tons. Strongest increase - 11,6% - is with "unaccompanied combined traffic" (COFC and trailers on well-cars). The so-called rolling highway (or accompanied combined traffic), where the railroad hauls tractors and trailers on cars with smaller wheels, increased by 4,3%. Transalpine freight on the highways decreased a little bit. The University of St.Gallen - which is focused on business and law - did a research on the cost-efficiency of the combined traffic between the areas of Duisburg and Milano in Western Germany and Northern Italy respectively. Both areas generate large amounts of freight, because they are heavily industrialized.Trains of the "unaccompanied combined traffic" and the rolling highway are both subidized by the tax-payers. 15 % of the cost to operate a train are subsidies. The money comes from gas-taxes and from a tax on heavyweights (i.e. trucks). The necessary subsidies are 5800 Swiss Francs for each train of the rolling highway and 4000 francs for each container or trailer-train. Trains here in Europe are much shorter than in the US or in CDN. Heaviest train in Switzerland is a daily unit-clay-train from Limburg (Netherlands) to Domodossola (Northern Italy) over Lötschberg-Pass. It has up to 3200 tons. On the northern grade of the Lötschberg with a southbound ruling-grade of 2,6 % between Spiez and Kandersteg, the train is hauled in two sections. For the opposite direction, the train does not need to be split into several sections because the cars return empty. Finally, something for the railfans. Rail4Chem contracted with owners of two historic electric engines (Ae 4/7) to haul unit-tank-trains in Swiss domestic traffic. The Ae 4/7 have been built in the 1920s and 1930s and have four driving axles in rigid frames (4-8-2). If I understand this correctly, if 15% of the cost of operations are from cross-subsidization of road users, then of course the other 85% is produced via railroad user fees?
martin.knoepfel wrote: 2006, rail-freight through the Swiss Alps increased by 6,5 % to 25,2 million tons. Strongest increase - 11,6% - is with "unaccompanied combined traffic" (COFC and trailers on well-cars). The so-called rolling highway (or accompanied combined traffic), where the railroad hauls tractors and trailers on cars with smaller wheels, increased by 4,3%. Transalpine freight on the highways decreased a little bit. The University of St.Gallen - which is focused on business and law - did a research on the cost-efficiency of the combined traffic between the areas of Duisburg and Milano in Western Germany and Northern Italy respectively. Both areas generate large amounts of freight, because they are heavily industrialized.Trains of the "unaccompanied combined traffic" and the rolling highway are both subidized by the tax-payers. 15 % of the cost to operate a train are subsidies. The money comes from gas-taxes and from a tax on heavyweights (i.e. trucks). The necessary subsidies are 5800 Swiss Francs for each train of the rolling highway and 4000 francs for each container or trailer-train. Trains here in Europe are much shorter than in the US or in CDN. Heaviest train in Switzerland is a daily unit-clay-train from Limburg (Netherlands) to Domodossola (Northern Italy) over Lötschberg-Pass. It has up to 3200 tons. On the northern grade of the Lötschberg with a southbound ruling-grade of 2,6 % between Spiez and Kandersteg, the train is hauled in two sections. For the opposite direction, the train does not need to be split into several sections because the cars return empty. Finally, something for the railfans. Rail4Chem contracted with owners of two historic electric engines (Ae 4/7) to haul unit-tank-trains in Swiss domestic traffic. The Ae 4/7 have been built in the 1920s and 1930s and have four driving axles in rigid frames (4-8-2).
2006, rail-freight through the Swiss Alps increased by 6,5 % to 25,2 million tons. Strongest increase - 11,6% - is with "unaccompanied combined traffic" (COFC and trailers on well-cars). The so-called rolling highway (or accompanied combined traffic), where the railroad hauls tractors and trailers on cars with smaller wheels, increased by 4,3%. Transalpine freight on the highways decreased a little bit.
The University of St.Gallen - which is focused on business and law - did a research on the cost-efficiency of the combined traffic between the areas of Duisburg and Milano in Western Germany and Northern Italy respectively. Both areas generate large amounts of freight, because they are heavily industrialized.Trains of the "unaccompanied combined traffic" and the rolling highway are both subidized by the tax-payers. 15 % of the cost to operate a train are subsidies. The money comes from gas-taxes and from a tax on heavyweights (i.e. trucks). The necessary subsidies are 5800 Swiss Francs for each train of the rolling highway and 4000 francs for each container or trailer-train.
Trains here in Europe are much shorter than in the US or in CDN. Heaviest train in Switzerland is a daily unit-clay-train from Limburg (Netherlands) to Domodossola (Northern Italy) over Lötschberg-Pass. It has up to 3200 tons. On the northern grade of the Lötschberg with a southbound ruling-grade of 2,6 % between Spiez and Kandersteg, the train is hauled in two sections. For the opposite direction, the train does not need to be split into several sections because the cars return empty.
Finally, something for the railfans. Rail4Chem contracted with owners of two historic electric engines (Ae 4/7) to haul unit-tank-trains in Swiss domestic traffic. The Ae 4/7 have been built in the 1920s and 1930s and have four driving axles in rigid frames (4-8-2).
If I understand this correctly, if 15% of the cost of operations are from cross-subsidization of road users, then of course the other 85% is produced via railroad user fees?
Sort of, but slightly more complicated. Note first that he is refering only to Intermodal trains, "Unaccompanied Combined Transport" refers to standard Intermodal trains carrying containers, swapbodies, or trailers. Rolling Highway is special low-deck flatcars that truck drivers can drive complete semis onto. The Truck Drivers then ride in passenger car while the train is transporting the rig across Switzerland. Presently Switzerland subsidizes both forms of Intermodal. Note how much more money is spent on Rolling Highway versus the regular Intermodal trains. The exact subsidy depends on how far the train operates. The regular Intermodal subsidy is scheduled to be eliminated in 2015 when the Gotthard Base Tunnel was to have been completed as the lesser grades should eliminate the need for helpers over the Alps, lowering the costs to the train operators. There is debate now over what to do about the subsidies as the Gotthard Base Tunnel won't be finished until 2017 or perhaps later. There also has been a subsidy for Domestic Swiss carload freight, but that is being phased out and will finish this year. Surprisingly after a brief dip due to some cutbacks of stations served in early 2006, SBB Cargo finished 2006 with more Domestic tonne-kilometers than in previous years. Switzerland will also partially subsidize the construction of Intermodal terminals in adjacent countries, as long as their main traffic flow is across Switzerland. It is enshrined in their Constitution that the Government must reduce Transalpine truck traffic across Switzerland by 2015, to the level of 1990, about 650,000 truck trips per year.
Clearer now - thanks Marc.
Zoetemeer always seemed liked a light rail line with heavy rail imposed upon it, especially with the frequency of stations.
It reminded me of the Tyne and Wear Metro here in the UK, which is basically a suburban heavy rail network converted to light rail.
I also take your point about 29 minute waits - I was being a little sarcastic with my previous comment.
As you say, however, NS diligently monitor their passenger flow and provide service accordingly. One must hope that this recast will inconvenience the minimum amount of passengers whilst providing more attractive travel options for the majority.
Casting a timetable on an intensively operated unified system must be a practically impossible task, like building a house of cards.
Simon Reed wrote:Bearing in mind that this is a North American forum, where passenger train frequency can be measured in days, it may be a little churlish to complain about 29 minute waits!The remodelling at Den Haag must have been quite drastic. It is some years since I rode the Zoetemeer and Hofplein routes but my recollection is that after leaving Den Haag CS they first headed towards Leiden, and I presume that this route remains.
Bearing in mind that this is a North American forum, where passenger train frequency can be measured in days, it may be a little churlish to complain about 29 minute waits!
The remodelling at Den Haag must have been quite drastic. It is some years since I rode the Zoetemeer and Hofplein routes but my recollection is that after leaving Den Haag CS they first headed towards Leiden, and I presume that this route remains.
I came across this video of a test ride on the new Betuweroute line here in the Netherlands. It shows scenes from several areas anf goes from east to west.
Niewsblad Transport is a Dutch transport magazine.
http://www.nieuwsbladtransport.nl/nieuws/id17905-Betuweroute_een_stukje_rijden_naar_het_westen.html
beaulieu wrote: On a different subject what is your opinion of the changes that NS is making in their operational patterns and the lost of so many one seat rides, Will the Dutch public accept the idea of making more connections? And what the heck is going on with the Randstadt Tram system? I read that they had to stop operating because of a rash of derailments.
On a different subject what is your opinion of the changes that NS is making in their operational patterns and the lost of so many one seat rides, Will the Dutch public accept the idea of making more connections? And what the heck is going on with the Randstadt Tram system? I read that they had to stop operating because of a rash of derailments.
Well, we have to accept the idea of making more connections as it is done. The old system lasted basically since 1970. Some trains were added, others deleted but the basics remained the same. On the other side, NS frequently research travel patterns so presumably they have some idea of the travel patterns and in all fairness, the Netherlands is a small country with half the population living on less than 20 % of the territory. The trade off there is more trains, for instance, on the Rotterdam - Utrecht run there are now 4 intercities every hour between 7 am and 11 pm with some before and after, before there were 2 intercites and 2 fast trains.
On the edges of the country there are more problems. For instance, if you regularly travel from, say, Deventer (mideast) to Leeuwarden or Groningen (both in the north) than you can wave to the trains departing to those destinations when you arrive at Zwolle. This used to be a good connection with some 5 minutes between trains. Waiting 29 minutes for the next train is garantueed to get you in a bad mood in the morning.
As for Randstadrail? Well, it seems that Murphy has taken up residence in the Hague. Everything that can go wrong seems to go wrong at that end. Randstadrail consists of the former heavy raillines Hofpleinlijn (between Rotterdam Hofplein and The Hague Central Station) and the Zoetermeer stadslijn from the Hague to Zoetermeer. This is a suburban city that was build since the 1960's. It got a heavy rail commuter line in the shape of a pretzel that connected to the Hofpleinlijn. While the Hofpleinlijn has been taken over by RET (local transit operator in Rotterdam) and will be connected to the underground lines, the Zoetermeer line has been taken over by HTM, the transit operator in the Hague. It will use light rail vehicles of the Regio Citadis type from Alstom in France.
Surprisingly, on the former Hofpleinlijn RET has little problems but it currently does not go all the way to the Hague. All problems are on the Hague end, mostly derailments due to faulty construction of switches and curves. Originally the rebuilding from heavy rail to underground / light rail was to been done in 3 months last summer but things are still not ready. You can imagine the complaints, especially since the free bus subsitute service is no longer free...
There is still a heavy rail line from Zoetermeer to the Hague (the Utrecht - Gouda - the Hague line) but it certainly cannot cope with all the travellers from a city of 118.000 inhabitants. According to the latest survey by the municipality of Zoetermeer the replacement bus service is adequate.
More on Zoetermeer and Randstadrail here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoetermeer
And now back to the soccer game Slovenia - Holland.
marcimmeker wrote: marcimmeker wrote:I've admired those huge threads about British railroading or the coffeeshop. So I am going to start one here about European railroading in general. My first question is: was there a (narrow gauge) railroad on the German North Sea island of Helgoland? I found a very short reference to it. It was probably military in origin as the island was a fortress in both world wars. greetings, Marc ImmekerI have finally found some time to upload some pictures of my trip to Helgoland last july.For those who wonder where it is located: it is in Europe, in the southeastern part of the North Sea, some 70 km's of the German coast. It has been part of Germany since 1890 when they exchanged Zanzibar, of the coast of Tanzania in Africa, for Helgoland which was then a part of Great Britain.I had the opportunity to fly around the islands but my pictures where not so great as this one.As you can see it consists of two islands, Helgoland and Düne. Together they are 1.8 km2 large and were connected until 1719 or so. There was a white cliff (limestone) that was quarried away.The Germans fortified the island and even used narrow gauge for construction and supply.This is what remains:pier/breakwater at south harborThe track falls apart due to the salt water and I was able to take a small piece home.Under the sands of Düne:Next time some historical pictures from a cd-rom that I bought at the island museum.I'm off to bed,greetings,Marc Immeker
marcimmeker wrote:I've admired those huge threads about British railroading or the coffeeshop. So I am going to start one here about European railroading in general. My first question is: was there a (narrow gauge) railroad on the German North Sea island of Helgoland? I found a very short reference to it. It was probably military in origin as the island was a fortress in both world wars. greetings, Marc Immeker
I have finally found some time to upload some pictures of my trip to Helgoland last july.
For those who wonder where it is located: it is in Europe, in the southeastern part of the North Sea, some 70 km's of the German coast. It has been part of Germany since 1890 when they exchanged Zanzibar, of the coast of Tanzania in Africa, for Helgoland which was then a part of Great Britain.
I had the opportunity to fly around the islands but my pictures where not so great as this one.
As you can see it consists of two islands, Helgoland and Düne. Together they are 1.8 km2 large and were connected until 1719 or so. There was a white cliff (limestone) that was quarried away.
The Germans fortified the island and even used narrow gauge for construction and supply.
This is what remains:
pier/breakwater at south harbor
The track falls apart due to the salt water and I was able to take a small piece home.
Under the sands of Düne:
Next time some historical pictures from a cd-rom that I bought at the island museum.
I'm off to bed,
Thanks for posting this, very interesting, looking forward to the rest of your pictures.
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