For this operation, the Dutch government will provide 158 million euros, while the municipality and port of Rotterdam will pitch in with another 169 million euros. Other than moving the yard, the funds will be used for the electrification of the ‘distri triangle’ and the outer contour, the modification of the C2 bend and the realization of two drive-through tracks.

Further expansion possibilities

The future yard in the Maasvlakte area has been under construction since last October and it will be put into operation in 2027. It will feature six bundle tracks, increasing the maximum train length allowed from 600 to 740 metres, as European standards dictate. On top of this, another yard will be built between 2030 and 2035 with the possibility for further expansion in the 2040-2050 period, if demand requires it.

Besides that, the Netherlands expects container traffic to grow even more in the coming years. “The import and export of containers is crucial for businesses and consumers in both the Netherlands and Europe, and thus for European prosperity”, explains ProRail. “We need to be able to efficiently handle this ever-increasing flow of containers to and from the hinterland.”

EMZ will facilitate 740-metre trains, more than the current standard length of 600 metres. That allows for fewer train movements and therefore lower transportation costs, as well as fewer emissions.

The EMZ project also makes provision for third and fourth phase work, to be financed by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, with an additional investment of 75 to 100 million euros. But this will depend on capacity requirements in the long-term, between 2040 and 2050.

Modal shift

Rail’s modal share for container traffic at the port of Rotterdam currently stands at 8% – compared to 58% for road and 34% for inland shipping. While the port has not said publicly what percentage increase it is targeting in the coming years, it is a strong advocate of facilitating and encouraging the further growth in train-borne freight traffic, the spokesperson noted.

“With a focus on southern Germany, Austria, Italy and eastern Europe, Rotterdam aims to shift more freight transport towards rail and inland waterways, reducing reliance on trucks. This ‘modal shift’ ambition is driven by the need for more sustainable and efficient logistics, particularly for hinterland connections.”

The port is also actively promoting intermodal transport and enhancing connections. “We aim to make it easier for shippers to combine different modes of transport, for example, from ship to train, to optimize logistics. The port is also working to improve connections with the European hinterland via inland waterways and rail networks. We are in discussions with shippers and market participants to see if rail and inland waterways would be a better fit than road for certain (traffic) flows through our port,” the spokesperson noted.

Digitalisation

Complementing rail infrastructure development at Rotterdam are digitalisation initiatives. For example, Rail Connected is a digital programme designed to streamline information-sharing between carriers, rail operators and terminals. It includes the implementation of advanced technologies such as track sensors and cameras to provide estimated time of arrivals (ETA) – crucial for efficient planning and can significantly reduce wait times and improve asset utilisation.

400 international rail connections

Asked to give a snapshot of Rotterdam’s current rail freight offering, to and from the Maasvlakte, the spokesperson highlighted a broad range of services which operate to both fixed and variable schedules.

“Trains transporting boxes typically operate on fixed schedules (400 international container rail connections per week) and represent the largest share of rail traffic to and from the Maasvlakte, followed by trains carrying liquid bulk, which may run on fixed schedules or on an ad hoc basis. “Trains loaded with ore and coal – also operating on fixed schedules, rank third and fourth in terms of volume while to a lesser extent, the port handles multi-customer single wagon/groupage services too,”

As for services with variable schedules, they provide factories with the flexibility to better respond to the supply of raw materials or the dispatch of semi-finished products, the spokesperson added.

Despite the reopening of the bridge, loaded ore and coal trains are no longer allowed to use the bridge when the winds exceeds wind force 6. For other trains, the bridge will be open again in single-track in case of wind force 7 or higher.

“We once again critically looked at the situation and came to the conclusion that it is possible under certain conditions to allow several freight trains to cross the bridge at the same time. Factors that we have to take into account are wind and the load on the train. This has been agreed in consultation with carriers and departments within ProRail,” said a spokesperson.

ProRail also states that it has not yet found a definitive solution for the problems at the bridge. “In the meantime, we are busy working on an action plan to see how we can make full use of the Suurhoff Bridge again,” the spokesperson said.

Loss of turnover

Arno van Deursen, country manager of Lineas NL & Region North, and general manager of Independent Rail Partner, says that capacity has been severely limited. “As a result of this situation, we have certainly suffered a loss of turnover of more than 100,000 euros. We run about 100 trains a week. At least fifteen of these have to go to the Maasvlakte every day. Trains sometimes had to wait up to four hours before being assigned a path. And those trains then also had to be set up again at a yard, so that they also filled up quickly.’

‘Without the Suurhoff Bridge, the Maasvlakte cannot be reached by rail. The rail freight operators find it incomprehensible that the umpteenth challenge from ProRail is now appearing like a devil from a box,” says Hans-Willem Vroon, director of interest group RailGood, about the situation. He says about the current restrictions on relief: “If the wind isn’t blowing too hard, this is definitely relief. But this is of course not very nice for the carriers who run heavy trains’.

“When the wind blows hard, we again suffer from the same restrictions. And we don’t know when the bridge will be repaired. In addition, it will likely require decommissioning to restore the bridge, which may not allow trains to run over it at all. We will have a lot of trouble with that,” says Van Deursen.

Rank Design

As a result of shortcomings identified by the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water and Management in the road section of the bridge, ProRail conducted an investigation into the rail section last month. This showed that the rail section did not have the same restrictions as the road section, but there was corrosion. “Follow-up research has now shown that the legal standards for the load on the bridge are exceeded if two fully loaded freight trains travel across the bridge at the same time. This is the result of the corrosion and the slender design of the bridge. In the coming weeks, we will investigate how the bridge can be reinforced,” said ProRail about the situation at the time.

This article was originally authored by Simone van der Lee and published in our sister publication NT.nl.  

Rail capacity was transferred to DB Cargo

On 27 November 2020, ProRail decided to transfer rail capacity from Lineas to DB Cargo, due to a malfunction at Kijfhoek that halved the hilling capacity (hilling is the process used at Kijkhijk for shunting). According to Lineas, the reduced hilling capacity did not result in congestion problems or delays on the Dutch rail network. Nevertheless, ProRail decided to redistribute the capacity, without conducting its own research or consulting foreign rail managers such as DB Netz about the alleged congestion.

According to ACM, ProRail transferred the capacity allocated to Lineas to DB Cargo without a thorough investigation and apparently fully relying verbal communication from DB Cargo. According to Lineas, the problem was not urgent enough to justify a redistribution of capacity on 27 November 2020. According to the market authority, this disadvantaged Lineas in its performance of rail transport.

ACM is of the opinion that ProRail has not been transparent about the procedure to withdraw ad hoc capacity. In addition, the market authority has established that ProRail acted in violation of the Network Statement 2020 by taking the decision to temporarily withdraw Lineas’ capacity at Kijfhoek, without asking Lineas for approval, or giving it the opportunity to start a dispute procedure.

Rail capacity request dispute

Lineas also disagrees with the way the 2021 annual timetable for Kijfhoek was made. Due to the expected transport increase in 2021, the rail freight operator requested four instead of three tracks. When it turned out that there were conflicting applications, Lineas indicated that it could use three tracks at Kijfhoek, on the condition that ProRail would allocate all six requested tracks at Maasvlakte West-West. According to Lineas, ProRail has omitted this condition from the coordination report.

ACM finds that ProRail has complied with the obligation to investigate how the various applications could be reconciled. For the conflicting applications at Kijfhoek, ProRail also proposed various alternatives within the port of Rotterdam to applicants and discussed them with them. For alternatives outside the port of Rotterdam, the rail manager could rightly suffice, according to ACM, by stating in the coordination file that applicants do not consider them viable.

According to the market authority, ProRail acted in violation of the non-discrimination principle in the eventual allocation of the capacity on the hill tracks, by testing Lineas’s application against priority criterion 2 of the Network Statement 2021 (is there a connecting train path?), while DB Cargo’s application for those tracks have not been assessed against that criterion.

Lawyer Viola Sütő of LegalRail assisted Lineas in this case. “In capacity allocation you equally weigh the interests of all carriers. Lineas was not allocated the capacity it requested because the prioritisation criterion was applied in a discriminatory manner.”

Capacity allocation Maasvlakte West-West

ACM also ruled in favour of Lineas about the lack of transparency of the capacity allocation procedure for the Maasvlakte West-West yard. The market authority indicates that in the coordination procedure for the capacity allocation, ProRail has fulfilled its obligation to investigate how it can reconcile the various applications by consulting the applicants. However, according to ACM, successful coordination also requires applicants to gain insight into the totality of the applications, without neglecting the importance of business confidentiality of the individual applications.

By not including this overview in the coordination file of the Maasvlakte West-West yard for the 2021 annual timetable, ProRail has fallen short of transparency on this point, according to ACM. In addition, ProRail has not demonstrated whether it has made a proposal to Lineas for (viable) alternatives for its application at the Maasvlakte railway yard.

This article was originally published on our Dutch sister publication Spoorpro.nl.

Vehicle Recognition

The top man made these remarks at the presentation of the financial and transhipment figures. What also became clear, is that the project has been downsized. The investment budget was reduced from 175 million to 100 million euros.

According to the market parties involved in the project, the port manager actually wanted to have all kinds of ultramodern systems installed, including for automatic vehicle recognition, but has now decided not to do this.

Investment cuts were reported earlier by our sister publication Nieuwsblad Transport. Last week, it became clear that the port manager had to write off 24.7 million euros on the CER project. The port manager stated this in an explanation of the financial figures. Six months ago, the Port Authority had already reported a setback of 5.7 million on the project, which was started in 2018.

Tender unsuccessful

The Port Authority had issued a worldwide tender in mid-2020 for the delivery of a hybrid transport system, in which the containers should be able to be transported both manned and unmanned. In addition, candidates not only had to supply the equipment, but also had to take care of the transport themselves. The port manager said at the time that it wanted ‘an integrated package’.

At the beginning of last year, the market turned out to be unable to supply such a concept, at least not under the conditions set by the Port Authority. That is why the port manager pulled the plug on the project in May and it was decided to write off all costs incurred.

Corporation tax

According to chief financial officer Vivienne de Leeuw, the amount reported six months ago relates to all costs incurred for the tender process itself. According to her, the other 19 million euros has been spent on all kinds of CER-related IT projects. With the decision to drop the hybrid concept, those investments also lost their value.

The Port Authority has also investigated whether the systems to be developed can be applied in a different way, but that turned out to be unfeasible.
The Port Authority reports another major setback in the annual figures for 2021. This results from a recalculation of the tax for future years as a result of the change in the corporate tax rate. The company calls that change “larger in 2020 than in 2021”, namely 144.6 million against 33.8 million. All in all, the net result decreased last year compared to 2020 by 104.5 million euros to 247.2 million euros.

“There is currently no train traffic between Roosendaal and Lage Zwaluwe due to a power failure. DB Cargo trains are diverted as much as possible. The disruption is expected to be resolved around 9:30pm”, the operator reported at 8pm.

On Wednesday evening, several deep sea terminals in the port of Rotterdam had already reported to shut down operations without further due. The RSC Rotterdam terminal continued to operate as usual. The shutdown of deep sea terminals in the Maasvlakte, Rotterdam has an impact on rail freight too. These are important loading points for hinterland traffic by rail.

Preventive measures

Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail has taken measures to prevent train failures as much as possible. A team of ‘incident responders’ are available in all regions to intervene in case of calamities. In addition, contractors have breakdown teams ready, so that they can immediately go on site to carry out repairs.

ProRail asks contractors to secure their building materials to prevent them from ending up on the tracks. Furthermore, a locomotive has been made available to tow stopped trains.

Dudley and Eunice

The storms Dudley and Eunice will hit the Netherlands right after each other. While Thursday afternoon is forecast to be relatively calm, the winds will become stronger again on Friday night.

Currently, wind gusts of 75-90 km/h can be observed throughout the country. Wednesday night is expected to remain stormy.

Kijfhoek

By applying additional shunting operations at Kijfhoek, DB Cargo has been able to prevent delays in the single wagonload network so far. It is however not the first setback at the emplacement yard this month. From 6 till 8 April, operations of rail freight traffic came to a halt as ProRail closed two switches. The safety certificate of these switches was no longer valid.

The three-day restrictions at Kijfhoek followed shortly after a malfunction of the hill braking system, so that the system could not be used for more than a week. “Very frustrating at a time when there is a great demand for wagon-load trains”, said Jelle Rebbers, spokesman for DB Cargo at that time.

Much to be desired

“Due to the corona crisis, we see customers that we had lost over time come back to rail. In such a time, it is very frustrating that we have to report malfunctioning emplacement yard. With such news, you confirm the reason why they turned away from rail at the time. The reliability of rail leaves much to be desired.”

ProRail responded in sister publication Spoorpro saying that it understands the frustration of carriers, but it also emphasised that it was purely an availability problem. “Due to a change of contractors at Kijfhoek, something went wrong with the extension of the safety certificates of the switches at Kijfhoek. They should have resolved that among themselves, but it is our responsibility to make sure this happens. It is very frustrating that this went wrong. ”

Absolute mess

The restrictions at Kijfhoek are a continuation of a series of restrictions for rail freight traffic in the Rijnmond region, in the South of the Netherlands. For example, the problems with the extinguishing facilities at the Waalhaven yard are now a long-term file that can be closed in 2021 at the earliest. The problems with drifting sand on the Maasvlakte also recur regularly. Market parties have called railways around the port of Rotterdam an absolute mess at the moment, but this is an image ProRail disagrees with.

“The situation may not be optimal compared to the main track in the rest of the Netherlands, but it is certainly not a mess. Things go wrong everywhere, especially when so many organisations, people and technologies are involved. The hill system at Kijfhoek is very old, so sometimes it breaks down. We are working hard to renew the system, but things could still go wrong after that. The issue with the extinguishing system at Waalhaven are being worked on with great effort to find a solution.

In general, the Dutch freight infrastructure has kept up well. The team of the country’s rail infrastructure manager ProRail and its contractors have been working overnight between 9 and 10 February. As of today, most of the tracks are available for freight operations, and so is Kijfhoek marshalling yard, the largest one in the Netherlands. Several terminals in the port of Rotterdam including RSC Waalhaven, Koole and EMO have relaunched their activities.

However, even the mentioned facilities have some restrictions. EMO asks its customers to refer to the contact persons directly in order to get more updates. “Due to storm Ciara, there are still limited activities at the EMO terminal. This means that based on the actual and predicted wind speed there is still no discharging possible and reloading on a limited basis. At the moment we are monitoring the weather conditions very carefully to get all our operations up and running safely as soon as possible. For more information we kindly refer you to your contact person within EMO”, the statement at the company’s web page says.

Maasvlakte closure

At the same time, several sources report that the deep-sea terminals at Maasvlakte will not open until the end of today. Among the reasons are the strong wind and piles of sand lying on the tracks. “What is really frustrating is the nets on the Maasvlakte has just been removed, resulting in a lot of sand lying on the tracks. This could be solved by installing axis counters. Since the outer counter has been re-opened, there have been a lot of problems with sand. And now Euromax terminal is out of operations too”, explains Hans-Willem Vroon of interest group RailGood.

German border

Meanwhile, there were troubles on the border between Germany and the Netherlands, especially near Emmerich on the German side. Most of the problems have been resolved, although some trees are still lying along the tracks. The cross-border railway from Bad Bentheim in Germany to Oldenzaal in the Netherlands has been restored completely.

Two other cross-border lines, the Viersen – Venlo and Oberhausen – Zevenaar sections, are also open for operations. However, these two stretches work with some restrictions. Traffic on the Viersen – Venlo line is limited towards Germany while the Oberhausen – Zevenaar line has only one available track, another is blocked. DB Netz, the German rail infrastructure manager, is working on its full recovery.

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