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| Railroad name | HSL-Zuid |
|---|---|
| System map | Hslbenelux.png |
| Map caption | Trajectory of the HSL-Zuid |
| Map size | 250px |
| Locale | Netherlands |
| Start year | 7 September 2009 |
| Gauge | |
| Metric | yes |
| Electrification | 25 kV AC, 50 Hz |
| Length | 125 km |
| Website | www.hslzuid.com |
Fyra operates between Amsterdam and Breda, for the time being with conventional carriages and rented TRAXX locomotives.
On 13 December 2009 Thalys began services from Amsterdam to Paris and Brussels on the HSL-Zuid.
Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, is responsible for the organization of the project. The government awarded the largest ever public-private partnership (PPP) contract to the consortium Infraspeed until 2030; it is responsible for design, construction, financing and maintenance. The line will feature state-of-the-art technology, including ETCS level 2 train control systems provided by Siemens AG and Alcatel (activities now part of Thales), and will be a ERTMS 2.3.0 Corridor.
Between Amsterdam and Schiphol, high speed trains operate on the existing line.
South of Schiphol the dedicated high speed tracks begin, parallelling the existing railway line until Nieuw-Vennep. The line then branches off eastwards, continuing along the west side of Roelofarendsveen and Hoogmade and entering a tunnel east of Leiderdorp. This tunnel was built to protect the character of the Groene Hart region. North of Zoetermeer the train line leaves the tunnel west of Hazerswoude-Dorp; it subsequently passes to the east of Benthuizen, and on an elevated track east of Zoetermeer, then back on the surface between Berkel en Rodenrijs and Bergschenhoek, and after a tunnel, joins the existing line again north of Rotterdam.
Trains run briefly on existing tracks for a few kilometres before entering the high speed line again. At Barendrecht the two tracks cross each other and the trains begin left-hand running as in Belgium, France and the UK. From here the line runs next to the existing railway as well as the Betuweroute, continuing through the Hoekse Waard area, bypassing Dordrecht. South of Dordrecht, the line runs next to the A16 motorway with a branch spurring off to the city of Breda. South of Breda, the line again follows the motorway towards Antwerp in northern Belgium. At the Belgian border, it connects to HSL 4, which carries on to Antwerp, with an existing line from Antwerp to Brussels.
But from Roosendaal the travel times will be longer:
Thalys reported that its trains would start using the line from December 2009, with Paris-Amsterdam journeys being 3h45m and Brussels-Amsterdam journeys being 2h23m, on account of a plan to gradually increase the line speed, with the same trains in June taking 3h18m and 1h58m. However, recent timetables show that the fastest Thalys trains do these journeys in 3h18m and 1h53m, suggesting that the speed-up had already occurred.
The following services are planned for the HSL-Zuid:
Category:High speed railway lines in Belgium Category:High speed railway lines in the Netherlands
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