📋 Tender Overview
Some 270 kilometers of track in Groningen and Frysln will be fitted with the modern rail protection system ERTMS European Rail Traffic Management System before 2030. During a working visit to Groningen State Secretary Steven van Weyenberg of Infrastructure and Water Management signed the administrative agreement for this together with the provinces of Groningen and Frysln . Work on this will start within five years.About ERTMSWith ERTMS the track safer and more sustainable. The current train protection system ATB Automatic Train Influencing is due for replacement in the North. By no longer investing in the old system but switching to ERTMS earlier than planned the central government will save 60 million. This amount is now being invested in converting the regional trains with the most modern safety system and in training staff to be able to work with ERTMS. This will reduce costs for the provinces of Groningen and Frysln. As concession providers they are responsible for train transport on the regional lines. It also ensures that train passengers have less to deal with outages.North leads the wayTogether with the provinces of Groningen and Frysln the government is investing in the new train protection system to make the track even safer and to ensure that more trains can run in the long term. This new system is currently only in use in a few places in the Netherlands. The North will soon lead the way. The rest of the Netherlands hopes to learn from the experiences gained in Groningen and Frysln. CostThe total cost of converting the trains is 90 million. The government will pay 60 million of this the province of Groningen 20 million and the province of Frysln 10 million. It is expected that ERTMS can be used for the first time on the Harlingen Haven - Leeuwarden route in 2026.Automatically controlled trainsWith the arrival of this new ERTMS protection system ATO automatic train operation or automatically controlled trains can be introduced in the future. ATO has already been extensively tested in Groningen and Frysln in the past two years. ATO allows more trains to run on a certain route trains run more on time and there is more comfort for passengers. In addition it provides cleaner public transport. In this way the Northern Netherlands acts as a frontrunner for the rest of the Netherlands.New standard The railway lines throughout the Netherlands will receive the ERTMS train protection system before 2050. It has been agreed in Europe that this system will become the European standard making it easier for people and goods to cross-border train traffic.
