ANPThe construction of the HSL-Zuid in 2005
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 21:02
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Danny van Zeggelaar
online editor
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Danny van Zeggelaar
online editor
It should be the showpiece of the Dutch railway network, but it is a headache: the HSL-Zuid, the railway line that should connect the Netherlands with Belgium and France via high-speed trains. An almost indispensable link in view of the desire to travel as sustainably as possible.
But it is also 125 kilometers of hassle. Last week it became apparent again that construction errors had been made during construction. In fact, even before the railway was built, there were problems, about which several voluminous reports have been published.
This included, among other things, costs. The railway became much more expensive than expected. In 1997 it was estimated that the railway would cost 7.5 billion guilders (3.4 billion euros equivalent). Ultimately that amounted to almost 7.4 billion euros.
Magnetic levitation track
As fast as the high-speed train should move, the decision-making process was just as slow. In Europe in the 1960s, people looked with envy at the super-fast high-speed trains in Japan. Several countries started working on it and there was also interest in the Netherlands. “If a Western European network of high-speed railways is established, the government considers it important to connect the Netherlands to that network,” the cabinet wrote in 1976.
The project received a boost in 1983, when France, West Germany and Belgium agreed on a study into a high-speed line between Paris, Brussels and Cologne. The Belgians also saw potential in a branch to the Netherlands, and that is how the Netherlands became involved.
ANPCDA minister Maij-Weggen (r.), with The Hague mayor Havermans (l.) and the French ambassador
In the mid-80s there were all kinds of plans: a new railway line, upgrading the existing railway lines and even a magnetic levitation railway was mentioned. The then CDA Minister of Infrastructure Maij-Weggen made agreements about this with neighboring countries.
She left open whether there would be a new line between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. And it was also not stated in black and white that 300 km/h would be driven between Rotterdam and Belgium. Both issues were the cabinet’s preference and would be implemented.
Hassle with the Belgians
The Netherlands also wanted the railway to enter Belgium at a different location than where the Belgians wanted it. The route desired by Belgium would cost the Netherlands a billion guilders more. It led to trouble between the two countries. The Netherlands got its way for a contribution of 837 million guilders: a route along Breda.
In the meantime, there was still a lot of discussion about the route to be followed. Numerous variants and wishes were presented. Would The Hague get a high-speed station? What to do with the Green Heart? Ultimately, The Hague did not have its own high-speed station and the railway line passed under the Groene Hart with a tunnel. The whole project started in 1997.
ANPThe starting signal for the construction of the HSL-Zuid in Breda
But just like the decision-making process, the construction of the line, under the direction of Rijkswaterstaat, also took longer than expected. When the decision was made, the hope was that the fast train would start running in 2004.
That soon became later. Although the line was completed in 2008, the first train did not run until September 2009. The delay was due to difficult negotiations and the train safety system, the modern ERTMS system. “The plan was therefore not achieved,” another research report noted coolly.
Nevertheless, the Netherlands finally had a high-speed line. More than thirty years after expressing the wish to connect to the HSL network, it was finally there!
But the party didn’t last long.
ANPFyras at a shunting yard in Amsterdam
The Fyra. A word that will sometimes cause shivers among those involved in the railway sector. The trains were ordered in Italy by NS and the Belgian Railways (NMBS), should travel 250 kilometers per hour on that brand new route and enable super-fast train traffic between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels. The project was put out to public tender. NS also had to make a bid.
The railway company offered 178 million euros, together with KLM. “My, my, my, my,” former minister Zalm said he thought when he heard that amount. It was a pleasant surprise for him: he had thought about 100 to 110 million euros. He thought it was a lot, but said that NS “had much more understanding of running a railway line”. The amount eventually went down to 148 million euros.
“Unwisely and irresponsibly high”, was nevertheless the opinion of the parliamentary inquiry committee Fyra in 2015, regarding the attitude of both NS and the cabinet. There were also questions about the high amount in the House of Representatives. Former GroenLinks MP Duyvendak feared expensive train tickets and spoke of a “fur coat train”.
ANPThen State Secretary Mansveld announces her departure
On July 29, 2012, a Fyra with passengers ran for the first time and on Sunday, December 9, the train ran for the first time in the new timetable. But many trains were canceled. The winter weather during that period did not make things any better. On Tuesday morning, January 15, 2013, something happened that would change the situation for everyone: a cover grille of a Fyra train that was on its way from Brussels to Amsterdam fell off the train.
There were already concerns about the quality before the trains started running, and there were also many things wrong with the inspections. The NS no longer had confidence in the Italian manufacturer AnsaldoBreda, kept all trains aside and decided to stop the project at the end of May 2013. The Belgian railways had stopped before and then NMBS boss Descheemaecker spoke of “the madness and the bungling” of the Fyra.
The Fyra project cost taxpayers hundreds of million euros and State Secretary Mansveld her job. The NS/KLM combination stopped working and the HSL has no longer been a separate part of the tender for domestic train transport since 2015.
160 instead of 250
But since the Fyra debacle, domestic travelers have been without a train that races through the Netherlands at high speed. The Intercity Direct does not go 250, but only 160 km/h and also has many delays. The Eurostar to London and Paris is a much more expensive service.
Only since last year, ten years after the Fyra debacle, has a new train been running: the ICNG, which has a maximum speed of 200 km/h. That seemed to be the end of the hassle – until last week it turned out that there was also a lot going on with the infrastructure.
ANPE and ICNG speed over the high-speed line
2024-01-27 20:02:17
#billions #huge #reports #problems #HSL
