HSL-Zuid (original) (raw)

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Dutch high-speed railway

HSL-Zuid
Route of the HSL-Zuid
Overview
Owner ProRail
Locale North Holland, South Holland and North Brabant, Netherlands
Service
Operator(s) Nederlandse SpoorwegenNS InternationalThalysEurostar
History
Opened 7 September 2009
Technical
Line length 125 km (78 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead
Operating speed 300 km/h (186 mph)
Signalling ETCS Level 2, ETCS Level 1 (fallback)
Route map Legend Line from Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport enlarge… 47.7 Hoofddorp Line to Leiden Ringvaart 29.3 River Oude Rijn Line Leiden–Woerden 22.6 15.5 Line Den Haag–Gouda Line Den Haag–Rotterdam 5.22.8 Line Hoek van Holland–Gouda Line from Utrecht Centraal 0.0 Line from Den Haag enlarge… 0.0 Rotterdam Centraal enlarge… Rotterdam Blaak River Nieuwe Maas Rotterdam Zuid Rotterdam Stadion Rotterdam Lombardijen Freight line to Europoort Barendrecht Line to Breda River Oude Maas River Dordtsche Kil River Hollands Diep Line from Rotterdam 34 Line to Breda 42.5 Line Roosendaal–Breda 54.584.0 Border Netherlands / Belgium HSL 4 to Antwerp and Paris enlarge… This diagram: viewtalkedit

The HSL-Zuid (Dutch: Hogesnelheidslijn Zuid, English: South high-speed line), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 mile) Dutch high-speed rail line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North Brabant. Together with the Belgian HSL 4 it forms the Schiphol–Antwerp high-speed railway. Originally scheduled to be in service by 2007, the first public operations began on 7 September 2009, after a ceremony on 6 September.[1]

Intercity Direct operates between Amsterdam and Breda, for the time being with conventional Intercity carriages and TRAXX locomotives. On 13 December 2009 Thalys began services from Amsterdam to Paris and Brussels on the HSL-Zuid. On 4 April 2018 the first scheduled Eurostar connected Amsterdam to London via the HSL-Zuid.

Talks about a high-speed line between Amsterdam and the Belgian border started under Prime Minister Joop den Uyl (1973–1977); work began during Wim Kok's first term (1998–2002). The Rijkswaterstaat, a government agency under the authority of the Ministry of Transport and Water Management, was responsible for the organisation of the project. The Government of the Netherlands awarded the country's largest ever public-private partnership (PPP) contract to the consortium Infraspeed until 2030; it is responsible for design, construction, financing and maintenance. The line features state-of-the-art technology, including ETCS L2 train control systems provided by Siemens AG and Alcatel (activities now part of Thales), and will be an ERTMS 2.3.0 Corridor.

Route between Paris and Amsterdam before (red) and after (blue) the introduction of high-speed rail technology in Europe

HSL-Zuid near Zoetermeer

Tracks near Lage Zwaluwe

Between Amsterdam and Schiphol (Westtak Ringspoorbaan), and around Rotterdam, high speed trains operate on the existing line.

South of Schiphol the dedicated high speed tracks begin, parallelling the existing railway line until Nieuw-Vennep. The line then branches off eastwards, continuing along the west side of Roelofarendsveen and Hoogmade and entering a tunnel east of Leiderdorp. This tunnel was built to protect the character of the Groene Hart region. North of Zoetermeer the train line leaves the tunnel west of Hazerswoude; it subsequently passes to the east of Benthuizen, and on an elevated track east of Zoetermeer, then back on the surface between Berkel en Rodenrijs and Bergschenhoek, and after a tunnel, joins the existing line again north of Rotterdam.

Trains run briefly on existing tracks for a few kilometres before entering the high speed line again. At Barendrecht the two tracks cross each other and the trains begin left-hand running as in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. From here the line runs next to the existing railway as well as the Betuweroute, continuing through the Hoekse Waard area, bypassing Dordrecht. South of Dordrecht, the line runs next to the A16 motorway with a branch spurring off to the city of Breda. South of Breda, the line again follows the motorway towards Antwerp in northern Belgium. At the Belgian border, it connects to HSL 4, which carries on to Antwerp, with an existing line from Antwerp to Brussels.

HSL-Zuid services

Since the opening of the HSL-Zuid, the number of trains has been expanded over time.

On 7 September 2009, operator NS International started a domestic train service between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, weekdays only, 1 train hourly with TRAXX-locomotives and ICR-carriages running at 160 km/h maximum. Over time, this service has been expanded. On 12 April 2010, service was expanded to Saturday and Sunday. On 4 October 2010, the frequency was doubled to 2 trains hourly. On 3 April 2011, this service was extended to Breda. This service is called Intercity Direct, until 2013 Fyra. Although a more intensive service was planned initially, this is not possible due to the V250 rolling stock problem.

Class Illustration Type Top speed Number Routes operated Built Remarks
mph km/h
NS Class 186 Locomotive 100 160 35[2] Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam and Breda Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague to Rotterdam, Breda and Eindhoven 2008–20092014–2015
NS ICRm (Prio) Carriage 100 160 60[3] Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam and BredaAmsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague to Rotterdam, Breda and Eindhoven 1980–1988[4]
NS ICNG EMU 124 200 79 Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague to Rotterdam, Breda and Eindhoven 2018-
V250 EMU 155 250 19 Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam 2008–2012 No longer in service

International trains

[edit]

The "Benelux train", in the Netherlands also known as Intercity Brussel, which existed before the Fyra, has been put into service again since the latter's demise, albeit under a renewed livery. It is a conventional InterCity train running between Amsterdam and Brussels-South using the Schiphol-Antwerp high-speed railway with reverse in Breda. These trains run every hour in both directions between Rotterdam and Brussels, serving Schiphol and Amsterdam CS north of Rotterdam.

Benelux train services to The Hague have been cancelled starting January 2022. These trains are redirected to Amsterdam over the HSL-Zuid, increasing the Amsterdam – Breda – Brussels service to sixteen trains per day in each direction instead of twelve but obliging travellers between Brussels and The Hague to change trains in Rotterdam or in Breda, albeit with a couple of minutes' reduction in total travel time.[5]

The current rolling stock is scheduled to be replaced by the NS ICNG-B stock starting 2025.

| Class | Illustration | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | Remarks | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- | ------ | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | | mph | km/h | | | | | | | | | SNCB Class 28 or NS Class 186 | | Locomotive | 100 | 160 | | Amsterdam CS to Bruxelles-Midi | | | | NS ICRm (Prio) | | Carriage | 100 | 160 | | | | | | NS ICNG-B | | EMU | 124 | 200 | 20 | 2018- | | |

Stations served:

Eurostar runs 16 times a day on the HSL-Zuid with speeds up to 300 km/h. Since late 2020 the Eurostar service to London is operated without change in Brussels due to a treaty with the British government, before the treaty passengers to the UK needed to disembark in Brussels and undergo customs screenings.:

Class Illustration Type Top speed Number Routes operated Built
mph km/h
Thalys PBA EMU 186 300 9 Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels-South and Paris Nord Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels-South and Lille Europe 1996
Thalys PBKA 17 1997
Eurostar e320 EMU 200 320 17 Amsterdam to Rotterdam, Brussels-South, Lille Europe (limited service) and London St. Pancras Int'l 2011-2018

Fyra International was an international high speed train service operated with V250 rolling stock between Amsterdam Centraal – Schiphol Airport – Rotterdam Centraal – Antwerp – Brussels, 10 times daily. Due to intensive problems with V250, this service only ran for forty days, between 8 December 2012 and 17 January 2013. The trains were eventually returned to Ansaldobreda.

Class Illustration Type Top speed Number Routes operated Built Remarks
mph km/h
V250 EMU 155 250 19 Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels-Central and Brussels-South 2008–2012 No longer in service

Intercity Direct domestic service crossing the Moerdijk bridges

Rail tunnel under the Dordtsche Kil

HSL tunnel near Rotterdam

The new line shortened travel times for international and domestic services departing from Amsterdam.

From Roosendaal however the travel times have become longer.

Thalys reported that its trains would start using the line from December 2009, with Paris to Amsterdam journeys being 3 hours and 45 minutes and Brussels to Amsterdam journeys being 2 hours and 23 minutes, on account of a plan to gradually increase the line speed, with the same trains in June taking 3 hours and 18 minutes and 1 hour and 58 minutes.[7] Nowadays trains travel from Paris and Brussels to Amsterdam in respectively 3 hours and 13 minutes and 1 hour and 44 minutes.

On the domestic Intercity Direct services (running from Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam and Breda) all regular Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) tickets are valid. A supplement (Dutch: toeslag) is required only for domestic travel including the section between Schiphol and Rotterdam. This costs €2.60 one-way in rush hour, and €1.56 outside rush hour.[8] Domestic tickets cannot be used on the international Thalys trains where reservations are mandatory.

Initially the HSL-Zuid route supported speeds of up to 160 km/h on both the southern Rotterdam to Breda and the northern Rotterdam to Schiphol section of the line. This was because ETCS Level 2 had not commenced operations and Level 1 was still in use. Various reliability issues prevented the use of Level 2 for sustainable commercial service.[9] Another issue was that the updated ETCS software of the Bombardier TRAXX locomotives was not certified for ETCS Level 2 operation. Railway Gazette reported in April 2011 that certification had been achieved and indeed Level 2 operations began on the southern section in May 2011 with Fyra services running at up to 160 km/h and Thalys at up to 300 km/h.[10] Level 2 went into operation on the northern part of the line in September 2011 and Thalys trains were then able to commence 300 km/h operations on that section. The V250 Fyra trains were hoped to enter service in December 2011 and indeed trial service (without passengers) began using first one, then two trains. As of March 2012 driver and train crew instruction runs were taking place with scheduled, non-passenger-carrying V250 interleaved between the passenger services and it was expected that these units would begin passenger operation in April 2012. The ETCS systems of wayside (Thales) and onboard (Traxx: Bombardier; Thalys & V250: Ansaldo STS) are interworking satisfactorily. With changes in the NS concession arrangements from 2015, the HSL service was combined with the national concession. The amount of Traxx locomotives and Prio carriages will be increased over the coming years as a stopgap measure until new intercity trains (foreseen in 2021/2022) will enter service. As a first step NS announced in December 2013 that they had placed an order at Bombardier for 19 Traxx locomotives.[11]

The V250 trains were ordered at the Italian train manufacturer AnsaldoBreda and were delivered in mid-2009. On 31 May 2013, the Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB decided to stop the Fyra project and refused delivery of the trains it had ordered.[12] On 3 June 2013, the Dutch national railway company NS announced that it had made a similar evaluation, and expressed its desire to stop with the V250 project.[13][14] The Dutch department of finance agreed, and recommended that NS do "everything in its power" to get a refund from AnsaldoBreda.[15] At a press conference on 6 June 2013, the manufacturer claimed that the trains had been handled poorly by running the trains too fast (at maximum commercial speed of 250 km/h) under snow conditions. AnsaldoBreda has also threatened to sue the railways for the damage to its reputation.[16][17]

On 17 March 2014 NS announced a settlement with AnsaldoBreda had been reached. The 9 NS trains will be returned to AnsaldoBreda for a refund of 125 million euros, 88 million euros less than originally paid. NS will receive an additional compensation for each resold unit to a maximum of 21 million euros.[18] In May 2014, NMBS/SNCB, AnsaldoBreda and its controlling company Finmeccanica announced that they reached a settlement that confirms the cancellation of the train orders and includes the payment of 2.5 million euros to NMBS/SNCB.[19]

Discovery of cracks and speed restrictions

[edit]

Cracks were discovered in the welds on the Zuidweg viaduct near Rijpwetering in October 2022, believed to be caused by design error with the deformation of the rubber support blocks. There was approximately 80 cm of horizontal displacement of the track on the viaduct at that point, which had been monitored since construction in 2009. There were questions raised if the piling of the viaduct could withstand the force exerted by running trains at high speed. 9 other viaducts were investigated, all also between the northern portal of the 8.67 km Groenehart tunnel and the junction where it joins the conventional network at Hoofddorp, due to being constructed in a similar manner, and a 160 km/h restriction was placed across these.[20]

In January 2024, 9 structures including bridges and viaducts were deemed not strong enough to withstand trains passing at high speed, meaning the restriction was further lowered from 160 km/h to 120 km/h.[21]

Investigations by ProRail reduced the speed restriction further to 80 km/h on 5 of the 10 viaducts in July 2024, as it was deemed the viaducts were too light and therefore unstable with trains passing at high speed.[22] Horizontal movement continues to be monitored on the structures and the 10 structures will likely need to be replaced, with ProRail suggesting work would be completed by 2026 at the earliest. Delays will increase by a further 2-3 minutes, for a total of up to 10 minutes on the northern part of HSL-Zuid.[23]

The problems have necessitated timetable changes, and the line is now running 3 trains per hour instead of 5. International trains continue to run, though taking longer.[21]

In October 2010, Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced plans to directly connect Amsterdam and Rotterdam with London, using the Channel Tunnel. This proposal would see services from London formed out of a pair of DB's Class 407 international ICE units, which would then divide in Brussels, with one train to Frankfurt and the other to Amsterdam. At approximately the same time, Eurostar also announced proposals to run services direct to Amsterdam, which would use its planned new e320 trains, and would be capable of operating on the infrastructure of the Dutch classic network as well as the HSL-Zuid. DB's plan has been buried since.

  1. ^ "NS Hispeed launches HSL-Zuid services". Railway Gazette International. 2009-09-07. Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  2. ^ "Somda nieuws - Somda".
  3. ^ "Materieelsamenstellingen - Somda". Archived from the original on 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  4. ^ nl:Intercityrijtuig
  5. ^ "Tienminutentrein vanaf 2022 op trajecten Nijmegen-Schiphol en Schiphol-Rotterdam" (in Dutch), on www.spoorpro.nl, published 1 September 2020 15:10, consulted 9 November 2021
  6. ^ "Bilan de l'année 2008 : Perspectives 2009" (PDF) (in French). SNCF. 2009-02-12. pp. See p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  7. ^ Timetables thalys.com
  8. ^ "Intercity Direct Toeslag". NS.
  9. ^ "Fyra launch delayed again". Railway Gazette International. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  10. ^ "ETCS Level 2 Compatibility Achieved". Railway Gazette.
  11. ^ "NS bestelt 19 nieuwe Traxx-locomotieven". 19 December 2013.
  12. ^ "NMBS bevestigt: Belgische spoorwegen stoppen met Fyra". www.hln.be (in Dutch). 31 May 2013.
  13. ^ "NS stopt met Fyra". www.nu.nl (in Dutch). 3 June 2013.
  14. ^ "Ook NS ziet niets meer in Fyra". NOS (in Dutch). 3 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Alternatives investigated as NS drops Fyra V250s too". Railway Gazette International. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  16. ^ Douglas John Bowen (10 June 2013). "AnsaldoBreda feuds with Belgian, Dutch railways". Railway Age. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  17. ^ "V250 – Press Conference, Naples" (PDF). AnsaldoBreda. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.[_permanent dead link_]
  18. ^ "NS stuurt Fyra terug naar Italië en krijgt 125 miljoen" [NS return Fyra to Italy and obtains 125 million] (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  19. ^ "The Belgian Railways NMBS/SNCB, AnsaldoBreda and Finmeccanica conclude V250 case". www.leonardocompany.com. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  20. ^ Hakimian, Rob (2023-08-01). "Cracked viaduct on Netherlands high speed rail sees speed restriction extended for two years". New Civil Engineer.
  21. ^ a b "Minder treinen op hsl-traject tussen Amsterdam en Rotterdam door scheurvorming" [Fewer trains on the HSL route between Amsterdam and Rotterdam due to crack formation]. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). 25 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Snelheid op HSL verder omlaag: nog maar 80 kilometer per uur bij vijf viaducten" [Speed on HSL further reduced: only 80 kilometers per hour on five viaducts]. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). 9 July 2024.
  23. ^ Vosman, Quintus (2024-07-11). "Speed restrictions tightened on HSL-South". International Railway Journal.

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