With rail traffic, both passenger and freight, increasing each year, the Netherlands is facing a crisis: authorities warn there will soon be no space for more trains.
ProRail, the agency that manages the country’s rail infrastructure points out that passenger route miles will hit 165 million km next year, up 30% from 2004, and expects a 45% increase in the next ten years. Freight traffic miles are also growing rapidly.
That’s good business, but the agency says it is almost impossible to accommodate it because only so many trains can run on only so many tracks at a time, and ProRail says that with 7,300 km of track connecting 400 stations, there really isn’t room for more. It’s calling for new solutions, saying ‘It will be necessary to be more innovative for more trains to use the existing track.’
Another issue is shortage of railyard space, both to assemble trains and load them, and to store trains that are waiting for their next runs.
