WITH passenger volumes on non-electrified lines in the Dutch province of Groningen increasing steadily, Arriva Netherlands has ordered additional intermediate sections for six of its Stadler GTW 2/6 dmus.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has announced plans to refurbish its fleet of first generation VIRM double-deck emus, the oldest of which entered service 20 years ago.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) and Finmeccanica, the parent company of Italian rolling stock manufacturer AnsaldoBreda, have reached a settlement on the future of the V250 Fyra high-speed trains and the cancellation of the contract by NS.

SIEMENS announced on March 13 that The Hague Tramways (HTM) has exercised an option worth around €55m for 20 additional Avenio low-floor LRVs, taking its total order to 60 vehicles.

KING Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands formally inaugurated the rebuilt Rotterdam Central station on March 13.

Transport planners are starting to consider how "big data" retrieved from passenger smart cards, computers and mobile phones could improve the design of urban rail networks and timetables, and improve operations by predicting ridership.

DUTCH railfreight operator Herik Rail Cargo launched its first intermodal service from the port of Amsterdam to the Segrate terminal near Milan on March 3.

THE council of the Dutch city of Maastricht granted planning approval on February 18 for the city centre section of the cross-border regional light rail line to Hasselt, Belgium, allowing tendering to begin for construction of the Dutch part of the route.

INTERNATIONAL high-speed operator Thalys saw revenues and ridership climb on its services from Paris to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in 2013 as the withdrawal of Fyra services brought an unexpected increase in traffic between Brussels and Amsterdam.