The Dutch rail network cannot cope with the exceptional winter conditions of February 7 and the following days. This is what ProRail and NS conclude in a joint winter evaluation. Travelers suffered a lot from limited travel options, longer travel times and sometimes full trains. Freight carriers also experienced great nuisance.
Despite the annual seasonal preparations by ProRail and NS, the rail system was not able to withstand these kinds of extreme weather conditions, it was reaching its technical limits. The evaluation shows that there are improvement is possible in a number of areas to minimize inconvenience to travelers. But it is impossible to completely prevent problems from arising in this kind of extreme winter weather.
ProRail and NS conclude that it would cost billions to keep the Dutch rail network available under all circumstances and at all times
Improvements
The evaluation shows that improvements are possible to ensure that the timetable can be started more quickly in the future, after these kinds of extreme weather conditions. ProRail and NS are taking measures on four main themes:
- ProRail, in collaboration with carriers, is conducting further research into the winter resistance (under different weather types) of the infrastructure in relation to the timetables of carriers. This research will lead to one or more scenarios in which a scaling down of the infrastructure is in line with the scaled down timetable of carriers.
- ProRail is improving the preparatory measures to make switches suitable for winter. For example, by optimizing the way in which checks on the point heating take place and how this is reported. In addition, ProRail is committed to better prioritizing repair work in the event of a large number of disruptions.
- NS will further improve the winterization of trains.
- ProRail improves internal processes as well as communication and information provision to regional and freight transporters in preparation for and during the downscaling of the infrastructure during winter conditions.
Snowball effect
The evaluation shows that in comparison with a normal winter day on Sunday 7 and Monday 8 February, there were many more disruptions than usual in winter weather. The persistent drifting snow caused major problems in clearing snow, but especially in keeping the switches on the track free of snow.
The number of disruptions to the track set off a 'snowball effect'. Because there were so many, there are not enough people and resources to solve the malfunctions. This abundance of faults also meant that ProRail had difficulty determining which faults the contractors had to resolve first.
Due to rail disruptions, shunting yards, maintenance locations and freight terminals were not or only poorly accessible. As a result, trains could not leave and equipment that was defective could not reach the repair site. About 12 percent of the NS trains had problems with the winter weather. In particular, ice formation on the running boards and ice formation on the train horns (typhoons) and gearboxes caused problems.
This combination of factors made it almost impossible for trains to run on Sunday 7 February and it was very difficult to start the timetable in the days that followed.
Start-up train traffic falters
Thanks to the great efforts of all railway employees, it was possible to cautiously restart train traffic on Monday 8 February. But because the extreme winter weather continued and sometimes snow still fell, many disruptions continued to occur. These disruptions hindered a smooth start-up of train traffic, because the complex timetable of NS in particular is closely intertwined with the availability of rail.
Due to the high number of disruptions, it was not possible to create a scenario for starting the timetable under the situation that had arisen. ProRail and NS were not aware of a logistics scenario that is below the level of the winter timetable, in which 80 percent of the trains run. Because of these problems, no perspective could be offered in the communication to travelers. The communication was in line with what ProRail and NS knew to the maximum.
ProRail and carriers now not only had to resolve many disruptions, but also devise a new timetable that was safe. In this hectic pace, ProRail did not pay enough attention to regional carriers, who could have offered their passengers tailor-made solutions. As a result, no trains ran in regions where this would have been possible.
The evaluation also shows that ProRail did not sufficiently inform regional and freight transport companies about the impact of the extreme winter weather on the railways and trains.
Also read: ProRail wants billions to improve the track