📋 Tender Overview
Our freight yard in Kijfhoek in Zwijndrecht has had a lot of inconvenience for transporters in the past period. After inspection with special measuring trains it turned out that we had to do a lot of maintenance especially on switches as soon as possible. This weekend we completed the last of that rush work.Swiss crossFreight wagons are assembled in a sorted manner at the Kijfhoek freight yard so that the assembled freight trains arrive at the right destination. This is done by means of a sorting hill and is unique in the Netherlands. The last work on a Swiss cross was completed last weekend. A Swiss cross is a special switch that can quickly distribute the individual wagons at intervals of up to 20 centimeters over the tracks. Kijfhoek is the only place in the Netherlands where this switch is located and there are only two copies in use worldwide. Some parts are specially made for Kijfhoek and are not standard stock.Stricter requirementsIn early March it was determined that the Zwisters cross did not meet the strict requirements with which ProRail tests its switches. The switch was taken out of service and ProRail has decided to subject all switches at Kijfhoek to a measurement part with the measuring train and part by hand. Due to a new maintenance contract the switches were tested against the stricter requirements. That a number of switches did not yet meet the new requirements came as no surprise at the time. We took part of the railway yard out of service immediately so that the switches could meet the new stricter requirements. This caused inconvenience to our carriers.With the completion of the work on the Swiss cross the last switches were brought back into service this morning. A total of 19 of the 160 points were serviced. In July we have the measuring train run again to make sure that all switches then meet the stricter standards.Switch between the Netherlands and Europe Tens of thousands of freight trains depart and pass from Kijfhoek the starting point of the Betuweroute to and from various destinations in the Netherlands and Europe. With fifty hectares 43 distribution tracks fourteen arrival tracks and twelve stabling tracks Kijfhoek is the largest freight yard in the Netherlands. Located between Barendrecht and Zwijndrecht Kijfhoek forms the link between the Dutch ports and large industrial areas in the Netherlands and Europe.
