International Railway Journal - August 2007 - (Page 36)

Measuring & testing With its 25kV electrification and ETCS, the unique characteristics of the Betuwe Route represented a challenge for Lloyd’s Register Rail, which was tasked with testing and certifying this complex infrastructure and the trains that will use it. Ronald Zeijpveld of Lloyd’s Register Rail explains the testing and certification programme. T HE 160km Betuwe Route is something completely new in the Netherlands. The €4.55 billion dedicated freight corridor linking Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam, to Zevenaar near the German border was officially opened on June 16. It is the first railway in the country with 25kV electrification and employs the European Train Control System (ETCS) as its safety system. It is also the first new line of its type solely dedicated to freight. Although the line has only been open for a matter of weeks, the line was busy for months beforehand as an extensive programme of testing and certification took place. Lloyd’s Register Rail verified that systems worked, and tested vehicles and infrastructure for certification. The Betuwe Route was borne out of the need to transport freight quickly and efficiently from Rotterdam, to the industrial heartland of Germany, and the markets beyond. Until now, transport options for both road and rail traffic have been limited, with the existing lines via Arnhem and Venlo suffering from serious congestion due to the intensity of both passenger and freight services. A dedicated freight line free from conflicting passenger movements would bring the additional freight capacity so desperately needed as traffic continued to burgeon. As a key international corridor, extra attention was paid to the inter operability of the Betuwe Route. The rolling stock is required to meet interoperability standards, and so is the infrastructure. This explains the choice of ETCS, that in due course is intended to replace many of the existing signalling systems in most European countries. Initially ETCS will mainly be applied on new high-speed lines, but other cross-border lines in Europe are expected to switch over to the system in time. In addition the Betuwe Route uses 25kV for the energy supply. This catenary voltage, which is also being used on the HSL South high-speed line, is different from the 1.5kV dc system adopted as standard in the Netherlands many years ago. Complexity Integrating all this into the wider railway network meant the Lloyd’s Register Rail team - commissioned by the project organisation of the Betuwe Route and rail infrastructure manager Prorail - was faced with a series of challenges. Testing and certification of the Betuwe Route and its vehicles turned out to be a complex task, not least because the Betuwe Route has a large number of system transitions, a result of the integration of 25kV and ETCS with existing systems and junctions. The whole country uses the Dutch ATB train protection system that was introduced by Netherlands Railways (NS) in the 1960s. On the Betuwe Route these different systems are integrated at crossings with existing lines. For example with the line to and from Rotterdam; the line to Breda; Dordrecht - Elst (and vice-versa) and Boxtel Utrecht. Additionally, after Zevenaar, the Betuwe Route connects with conventional lines for the interface with the German rail network. A final challenge was formed by the sections of the Betuwe Route that run parallel with the existing line. Here it 36 IRJ August 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of International Railway Journal - August 2007

Contents This month News Market News Transit News News Analysis Voith Goes For Maxima Impact First Gauge-Changeable Loco Under Test Power Surge China Feels the Need For Speed A Firm Foundation For Chinese High-Speed Testing Times on the Betuwe Route Tough Tests For Mass Transit Software A Measure of Success Rendezvous Full Contact List Advertisers Index The Last Word

International Railway Journal - August 2007

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