Betuweroute

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The Betuweroute is a double track freight railway from Rotterdam to Germany. Betuweroute is the official name, after the Betuwe area through which it passes, but the line is popularly referred to as Betuwelijn, after an older track in the same region. The Germans have christened their part the Hollandstrecke. Together they form Project nr. 5 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) [1]

Contents

[edit] History

Construction of the Betuweroute in Meteren in 2004
Construction of the Betuweroute in Meteren in 2004

On June 16, 2007 the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix presided over the opening ceremony for the section connecting Rotterdam 160 kilometers (99 mi) to the German border.[2] Ignoring the TEN-T and bilateral agreements, the Germans will not complete reconstruction of their section before 2015.[3]

Preliminary investigations into the future of west-east transport began in 1985 by the commissie Van Bonden. In 1992 the German and Dutch governments signed the Verdrag van Warnemünde, a treaty on enhancing rail traffic, especially on the tracks from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to Duisburg. The original plans foresaw three branches towards Germany. However, the northern branch via Oldenzaal was discarded in 1999 and the southernmost track via Venlo saw the axe in 2004. In the same year, the court forbade the construction of a large logistics centre near Valburg. Work on the Dutch part of the track began in 1998. Delayed by two years, the railway was finished mid 2007, to a cost of 4.7 billion euro, two times the original budget of 2.3 billion euro, and a fourfold of the initial 1.1 billion euro estimation in 1990.

Project management hope 150 freight trains per day will be using the new line within five years. Due to problems with safety equipment, and the unfinished German connection, traffic is still marginal by december 2007.[4]

A tunnel for the Betuweroute near highway A15
A tunnel for the Betuweroute near highway A15

[edit] Controversy

During its construction many Dutch people and experts were opposed to the Betuweroute. The Dutch department for transport received 14.000 complaints against the northern branch alone, which was cancelled in 1999. Groen Front (Green Front), one among dozens of activist groups, accounted for 35 confrontations in 1999-2001.[5] The main concerns about the Betuweroute were:

  • Cost - Even at the original budget of 2.3 billion euro, there was much discussion about economic viability. Initial hope to attract private investors turned out to be totally unfounded. In 2000 the Algemene Rekenkamer (General Chamber of Auditors) convicted the government on having issued unrealistic forecasts about cost, environmental effects and usage of the Betuweroute, as well as insufficient cost control. They stated that promoting river transportation should have been considered as a realistic alternative. In 2004 the Centraal Planbureau (Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis), concluded that the construction would never pay back.
  • Landscape - Fears of ravaging the Groene Hart and the Betuwe. The Groene Hart (Green Heart) of the Randstad is a more or less rural area amidst Holland's largest cities; the Betuwe is a less densely populated green region along the large Dutch rivers. Both feature classic Dutch polder landscape. The opposition to the original plans forced the construction of additional tunnels, driving the budget further up.
  • Environmental issues - Worries about noise, spilling of dangerous chemicals and splintered animal habitats caused many environmentalists to fiercely resist the new track. In response, extra noise isolating panels, tunnels and wildlife passages were built.
  • Alternatives - As the Algemene Rekenkamer concluded in its 2000 report, river transport was and still is a realistic alternative. It is cheaper, more flexible, safer and not much slower. The Dutch barge fleet is the largest and among the most modern in Europe,[6] well capable of handling the transport to the German industrial heartland, nearly without any investment by the government. The great Dutch rivers Merwede, Waal and parts of Rijn, Maas, IJssel and Lek run roughly alongside the Betuweroute. The same goes for the A15[7], an excellent albeit congested highway, which parallels the railway for 95 kilometers (59 mi).

Several parts of this Controversy section are based on a Dutch scientific investigation[8]

[edit] Specifications and Features

  • The route is electrified with 25 kV AC and signalled with the ERTMS2 security system. Electrification complies to new European standards, but current Dutch locomotives can not ride this track, as they use a different voltage. German locomotives use the right voltage, but the German part of the route does not comply with the new European standard security system, severely limiting usablility of the track. First new-spec locomotive delivered to Railion december 2007.
  • Tunnels, electrification and other parts of the railway are engineered to allow double stacked container trains, although no such trains will be in use for years to come.
  • Total length of noise isolating panels on both sides is 160 kilometers (99 mi), the same as the track length.
  • Roll bars along the track keep derailed cars from toppling.
  • 5 Tunnels and several roofed sections add up to a length of 20 kilometers (12 mi).
  • 130 Bridges and viaducts, no level crossings.[9]
  • Capacity for 10 trains per hour in each direction, if the German safety gear and other infrastructure is updated.

[edit] Infrastructure

A lot of infrastructure was built or reconstructed to get the trains rolling. The most striking works:

  • container terminals in Rotterdam: Rail Service Centre Maasvlakte and Rail Service Centre Waalhaven.
  • The 3 kilometers (2 mi) long Botlekspoortunnel under Rotterdam harbour replaces the antiquated Botlek bridge, which remains in service as backup and for regional traffic. Space around the tunnel was so constrained that, after completing the first tube, the tunnel boring machine had to be dismantled inside the tube. The parts were then returned to the starting point and reassembled to drill the second tube.
  • Reconstructed Classification yard Kijfhoek between Barendrecht and Zwijndrecht.[10]
  • Barendrecht station, where 9 tracks cross on two levels. The station is part of a 1.5 kilometers (1 mi) long structure, much of it covered under a layer of ground, to keep noise at bay. On top is a new city park.
  • Tunnel under Pannerdensch Kanaal near Angeren. Instead of the projected bridge, a 2.7 kilometers (2 mi) tunnel was bored, to spare landscape and environment. The tunnel entrances were designed to blend with the landscape. The tunnel itself has large lock doors at each end, to prevent a flood on one side of the canal from inundating the region on the opposite bank. Because two endangered animal species were found in the vicinity of the tunnel, a new habitat was laid out for the Great crested newt and the Natterjack Toad, as this video shows.[11]

[edit] Route

The route is a direct line from the Maasvlakte to Zevenaar, connecting Europoort to Germany.

Compared with the previous rail route between Barendrecht and Elst the main deviations are:

[edit] Municipalities

Municipalities along Betuweroute:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Several parts of this article are based on: Decision process and construction of Betuweroute, 1985-2007 (German).

  1. ^ Betuweroute and the TEN network
  2. ^ First freight train on the Betuweroute
  3. ^ Germany ignores Betuwelijn
  4. ^ Marginal use of Betuweroute
  5. ^ 35 actions by Groen Front against the Betuweroute, 1999-2001 Dutch
  6. ^ River transportation: Market observation 2006 Dutch barge fleet accounts for more than 50% of total tonnage in Rhine and Meuse basins, (p42). And is the most modern, second only to the German fleet, (p55). Dutch
  7. ^ A15, Highway parallel to the Betuweroute. Dutch
  8. ^ Rail transport vs. river transport. Scientific investigation on costs, safety, environment. Dutch
  9. ^ Features of Betuweroute Dutch
  10. ^ Track plan Classification yard Kijfhoek
  11. ^ Short video about new habitat for the Great crested newt, Dutch spoken