train

My YouTube recommendations have done well once again. On 20 January, an Intercity VIRM-6 train collided with an excavator pulling a trailer at a protected level crossing in Bunnik. The excavators engine failed while on the crossing, and the train couldn't brake in time travelling roughly an additional 500 metres after the impact. The driver of the excavator was not hurt, the driver of the train came out with minor injuries, and no passengers were harmed.

The video recommended to me, filmed by Tinovr6, was of the train being rescued by one of ProRail's four unimogs. The vehicle demonstrates great traction given the wet conditions that day.

Yesterday we saw the new ICE-L from Talgo enter the Netherlands being pulled by a RailAdventure operated Siemens Vectron. They've entered the Netherlands for testing and approval. This is to be the new Intercity Berlin passenger carriages as early as December 2025, but I don't have my hopes up. Treinreizigers.nl reports that we may see ICE 3 Neo temporarily used if the ICE L is not admitted by then. There's nothing more permanent than a temporary fix, at least it would be fun to see the ICE 3 Neo service this route.

Back to the ICE-L, the video from Dylans Depot shows 21 carriages being pulled by the Vectron. We know the ICE-L is usually used with 17 carriages, that's 21 carriages * 13.8m = 290m long! That makes this longer than the current IC Berlin (9 carriages * 26.4m = 238m). I don't expect them to use 21 carriages in normal passenger service and have seen it mentioned online that using 21 carriages is potentially to test at the maximum possible length. If 17 carriages are used it would be closer to the length of the current IC Berlijn rijtuigstam at 235m (17 carriages * 13.8m = 235m).

Chick-fil-A's distribution centre at Union Pacific's Prime Pointe Industrial Park in Dallas, Texas, is ready to receive hash browns, waffle fries and other tasty potato products via rail from Oregon. According to Union Pacific's press release, the distribution facility will serve 200 stores in the area, receiving an average of size rail cars a day, offsetting the equivalent of "100 long-haul trucks off the road each week."

The potato products I assume are produced by Lamb Weston's located by Union Union Pacific's Portland Subdivision railway line that runs along the Columbia River in Oregon.

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) launched the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program to fund projects that improve safety around level crossings. This $1.1 billion grant program aims to create grade separation through tunnels or bridges over railways, close crossings, relocate track, protect or improve protection at existing crossings, and plan works involving the crossings. Since opening for applications in September of 2024, 123 projects have been accepted, covering over 1,000 crossings.

These goals are very similar to those of the Dutch National Level Crossings Improvement Program (LVO) started in 2014 to improve safety and traffic flow at crossings, and the NABO program, launched in 2018, aimed at eliminating all passively protected level crossings in the country. While the funding mechanisms for these projects are slightly different—where the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management funds up to 50% of the project, the US FRA fund up to 80%—the outcomes are the same.

Adam Jacobs writes about switching from flying to travelling by rail for conferences and other work-related travels to be more sustainable. In doing so they also comment on the benefits of being able to work while on the move and the ability to explore new places but also that purchasing tickets can be complicated especially if it involves a missed connection. It was good to read someone else's perspective as I also travel by train for work, not as much or for as long as the author, and have written about my fair share of experiences. The same themes arise, good use of work time, but also trouble with ticketing and delays.

I originally discovered Adam's article on Mastodon.

On 6 January, Dirk-Jan Pasman, a Product Owner and Project Manager at NS, posted on LinkedIn that the first VIRM train, number 8742, has been taken to the workshop to begin installation of ETCS equipment. To the quote the entire post, translated from Dutch to English using LibreTranslate:

Nice start of the new year, proud and big milestone!

Today, the first VIRM train will roll into the workshop that we are going to provide with ETCS (European Train Control System). Over the past period we have worked hard together towards this beautiful moment.

By installing ETCS in the VIRM, we make the largest intercity fleet of NS ready for the future.

With fresh energy we will work together during this next phase of this beautiful project!

In 2022, Siemens Mobility was awarded the contract to equip 176 VIRM trains with ETCS Level 2 technology and maintenance of the system which the Dutch Railway, NS, plans to extend to the SLT and FLIRT trains in the future. At the time drivers were planned to start simulated training using the system in Q4 2023.

A look into the mash-up of Slovak train design by Dalibor Itze and their proposal to fix some of its flaws.

Last Thursday the annual Christmas tree gift from Austria to the European Parliament arrived via the NightJet in Brussels. The post is credited to Elias Van Deun on Bluesky. This is an annual tradition, from an article in The Brussels Times, the first year the tree was delivered by train was 2021. At that point a tree had been gifted 23 times before, that makes this years tree the 27th.

Thibault Lapers reports on some interesting rumours that an announcement of the EuroCity Brussels is not far away. We saw this service during the Olympics this summer between Brussel-Zuid and Paris Nord. Thibault mentions that in addition to a stop at Mons, we can also expect stops Aulnoye-Aymeries and Creil with an overall trip time of approximately 3 hours. The rolling stock would be the HLE 18 locomotive and I11 carriages.

Extending the RE13 to Eindhoven has been in discussions for many years now. In 2021, the concession was awarded to Start, a subsidiary of DB, to work together with Arriva Nederland who is responsible for the Dutch portion of the service.

This hourly service, scheduled to starting in December 2026, will use 20 new Stadler FLIRT3 XL train sets. They will be capable of three power systems, 15kV DC, 15kV AC and 25kV AC, according to the presentation with three train protection systems ATB, PZB, and ERTMS. It seems the first train has already been constructed with three more scheduled for 2024 and the rest to started by Q4 2025.

Title and all quotes translated from Dutch to English by Google Translate, minor edits for readability made by me.

As ProRail employees are on strike in different regions of the Netherlands this and next week. Even though these strikes are bound to various ProRail control centers, they affect traffic much broader than their region. Since NS runs a lot of 'long lines' across the country which may cross strike affected areas. NS has even started using new digital signage earlier this year to help passengers navigate these long routes. Tim van Leeuwen, Director of Operations Control at NS, explains why these long lines are needed:

[Long line services] are a direct consequence of how our small country is structured. In contrast to other countries, the Netherlands does not have one dominant urban area where employment and education are concentrated. Think of Paris in France, for example. Everyone has to go there in the morning and leave again in the evening. The French railways (SNCF) therefore base their timetable on this.

What you sometimes hear is true: the Netherlands is more of a large city than a small country. Not all residents of Den Bosch work in Rotterdam and not all residents of Groningen want to go to Amsterdam. You could actually say that everyone in the Netherlands has to go everywhere. And that is what NS is setting up its network with long lines for.

A major advantage is that NS is making optimum use of both the infrastructure and the train equipment. Due to the long lines, few trains have to turn around in Utrecht and that saves platform capacity and therefore space at Utrecht Central, a place in the middle of the city where space is limited. It also ensures that 80 percent of our passengers do not have to change trains.

Ivan Rivera writes about the derailed Renfe S-411 near Chamartín in which both occupants where safe. It's most likely that a train drifted downhill across two tight curves with speed limits for 45 km/h.