Rail transport in the Netherlands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Netherlands | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Syntus LINT on a bridge near Westervoort. | |||
| Operation | |||
| National railway | Nederlandse Spoorwegen | ||
| Infrastructure company | ProRail | ||
| Major operators | NS Hispeed Arriva Connexxion Syntus Veolia |
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| Statistics | |||
| Ridership | 438 million per year | ||
| Passenger km | 15.5 billion per year | ||
| Freight | 36.5 million ton per year | ||
| System length | |||
| Total | 2,809 kilometres (1,745 mi) | ||
| Double track | 1,878 kilometres (1,167 mi) | ||
| Electrified | 2,061 kilometres (1,281 mi) | ||
| Frieght only | 158.5 km | ||
| High-speed | 125 km | ||
| Gauge | |||
| Main | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | ||
| High-speed | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | ||
| Electrification | |||
| 1.5 kV DC | Main network | ||
| 25 kV AC | HSL Zuid, Betuweroute | ||
| Features | |||
| No. tunnels | 6 | ||
| No. bridges | 4500 (of which 86 are movable) | ||
| No. stations | 376 | ||
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Rail transport in the Netherlands utilises a 2809 km long network maintained by ProRail and operated by a number of different operators. The entire network is standard gauge.
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[edit] Operators
Originally, there were a number of private railways which operated different routes throughout the country, but these were merged together in 1938 to form the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). It had a complete monopoly over all train transport in the Netherlands until the liberalisation in 1992. Since then different companies have taken over a number of lines. Arriva took over the northern secondary lines, and a central line, Syntus took over the eastern secondary lines and Veolia took over the southern secondary lines. Connexxion took over a single central line. But the NS is still the operator on the core inter-city network. The NS also operates a night service from Utrecht to Rotterdam through Amsterdam and The Hague. And since december 2007 on weekends to 's Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda and Dordrecht.
Freight transport used to be run by NS Cargo, but it has since merged into Railion, which is still the largest cargo carrier in the Netherlands. There are a few other caro carriers though, namely Dillen & Le Jeune Cargo, ERS Railways, Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln, Rail4chem and Veolia Cargo.
The whole network itself is maintained and organised by the government agency ProRail, it is also responsible for allocating slots to the different companies.
[edit] History
The first Dutch railroad was build opened in 1839, on a short stretch between Amsterdam and Haarlem, and was quickly expanded to The Hague and Rotterdam. It was originally build to a broad gauge, but was converted to standard gauge in 1866. Further expansion happened in the 19th century to connect the rest of the country. During the 20th century most of the main lines were electrified, starting in 1908 with the Hofpleinlijn.
[edit] Network
The network is heavily focused on passenger rail services and connects virtually all major cities, although there are still a few cities without a train connection. Freight routes usually run on an east-west heading. The freight trains usually share the tracks with passenger trains, although the new Betuweroute is a freight only route. The network is well developed a relatively dense, due to this there is little expansion of the network, work is mostly done to improve the connection and capacity of the network. There were, however, a few new lines built in recent years, or still under construction, such as the High Speed Line and the Betuweroute. There is only one major line currently under construction, the Hanzelijn, meant to connect Flevoland to Zwolle.
Most of the network is currently electrified. Electrification is done to 1.5 kV DC, shared only with southern France in Europe, thus limiting interoperability with neighbouring countries. New lines are electrified with 25 kV AC, and the old lines are planned to be converted to it in the future.
Speed is generally limited to 130-140 km/h, but on most secondary lines the maximum speed is lower, and on some major lines the maximum speed is 160 km/h. On the new HSL-Zuid line, the maximum speed is much higher at 300 km/h. Newer build lines are also constructed to allow for higher speeds.
[edit] Railway links with adjacent countries
The Dutch network is connected with both neighbours at several places. Terneuzen is linked to Belgium (freight-only), but not to the rest of the Dutch network. Five cross-border links are electrified. Due to the difference in voltage, trains must change locomotives at Bad Bentheim, Emmerich or Venlo; Belgian 3 kV trains reach Roosendaal and Maastricht with reduced power. Alternatively, multiple-system or diesel traction are used. Several border crossings are disused or freight-only.
[edit] See also
- Locomotives of Nederlandse Spoorwegen
- Rail transport by country
- Railway stations in the Netherlands
- Train routes in the Netherlands
- Trains in the Netherlands
- Transportation in the Netherlands
