Quintus Vosman

THE Dutch minister of infrastructure Mrs Melanie Schulz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus, has decided to impose fines on both Netherlands Railways (NS) and infrastructure manager Prorail for failing to reach the level of performance stipulated in their concession agreements.

THE first installation of ETCS on Belgium's conventional rail network was commission by Infrabel on the Brussels - Leuven line on March 1. This is also the first use of Level 1 in the country as Belgium's high-speed lines are equipped with Level 2.

AFTER months of delays and dispute, the contract to supply low-floor LRVs to the Hungarian city of Miskolc has finally been signed. A joint-venture of Ganz, Hungary, and Škoda Transportation will deliver 31 bi-directional type 25T vehicles in a deal worth almost Euros 70m.

THE FIRST of two Škoda City Elefant double-deck emus for Ukrainian State Railways (UZ) arrived at the Velim test track near Prague on February 26 for testing.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has unveiled the first DD-AR double-deck regional train to be converted for inter-city use. The Euros 235m New Intercity Double-decker (NID) project is being carried out by NedTrain at its refurbishment and overhaul facility in Haarlem and involves extensive refurbishment of 190 DD-AR coaches and 50 mDDM power cars built for NS in the 1990s.

After many months of uncertainty, the Dutch government has revealed how it intends to rescue the High Speed Alliance from bankruptcy. Quintus Vosman explains how high-speed services will be merged into the conventional network, and examines the structure of the new 10-year core network concession, which starts in 2015.