European Railroad Discussion > Riding the Nederlandse Spoorwegen

I'm spending the weekend with friends from London who have settled in Amsterdam. This morning whilst they had some domestic matters I took myself off from Amsterdam to Sliedrecht, near Dordrecht to take some shots of the freight-only Betuweroute which links the port of Rotterdam with the German border, a distance of about 150 Kms. These are some of the trains I saw.

1: The interior of a standard inter-city car, used on Inter-city Direct services from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, Breda and Brussels over the high speed line. They date back to the 1980s and despite being modernised are a wee bit utilitarian. They should have been replaced by the V250 EMUs built by Breda of Italy but that was such a fiasco that the old cars soldier on, being pushed and pulled by Bombardier Traxx locomotives

2: And here is a Traxx, the train is one of the Benelux services to Brussels. It's at Rotterdam Centraal.

3: Exterior of the Inter-city car, this one carries the logos of both NS and SNCB.

I'll post some more when I get a better connection.

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I wonder if that coach-end color scheme makes some riders a little queasy. (My mind's "active tilting mechanism" keeps trying to align it with the car.)

4 : A Stadler Flirt EMU leaving Sliedrecht for Geldermalsen operated by Q-Buzz.

5 & 6: Amsterdam bound Inter-city Direct trains at Rotterdam Centraal. These run over the high speed line between Schiphol and Rotterdam and between Rotterdam and Breda / Antwerp, but not at very high speeds, 100 mph max. Despite that NS charge a supplement for the privilege! This is the fall out from the FYRA debacle. The 250 kph FYRA EMUs were supposed to replace loco hauled trains but with the contract cancelled and the trains returned to their builder and compensation paid NS are forced to rely on 30+ year cars topped and tailed by TRAXX locos.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/19 15:13 by 86235.

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Just what I was thinking!!! :):):)

mile250 Wrote:
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> I wonder if that coach-end color scheme makes some
> riders a little queasy. (My mind's "active tilting
> mechanism" keeps trying to align it with the car.)

mile250 Wrote:
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> I wonder if that coach-end color scheme makes some
> riders a little queasy. (My mind's "active tilting
> mechanism" keeps trying to align it with the car.)

The Dutch do like to add a  bit of interest to brighten up the utilitarian look.
The refurbished VRM units are especially basic, but all the seats line up with the windows on the upper deck and a splash of whatever you like for the handle on the stair doors.

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86235 Wrote:
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> 4 : A Stadler Flirt EMU leaving Sliedrecht for
> Geldermalsen operated by Q-Buzz.

Actually this is an older Stadler EMU, a GTW 2/8. The give away is the separate power module directly under the pantograph. This "Power Module" sits on the only pwered bogie in the whole trainset. This arrangement means that GTWs are not really suitable for commuter service requires fast acceleration. So it is generally used on quiet secondary lines. GTWs come in both DMU and EMU variants. Stadler "Flirt" are built with two powered bogies and lack the power module as all the electrical equipment is distributed along the trainset, with the bogie on each end powered.

SOO6617 Wrote:
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> 86235 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 4 : A Stadler Flirt EMU leaving Sliedrecht for
> > Geldermalsen operated by Q-Buzz.
>
> Actually this is an older Stadler EMU, a GTW 2/8.
> The give away is the separate power module
> directly under the pantograph. This "Power Module"
> sits on the only pwered bogie in the whole
> trainset. This arrangement means that GTWs are not
> really suitable for commuter service requires fast
> acceleration. So it is generally used on quiet
> secondary lines. GTWs come in both DMU and EMU
> variants. Stadler "Flirt" are built with two
> powered bogies and lack the power module as all
> the electrical equipment is distributed along the
> trainset, with the bogie on each end powered.

Thanks