Name :

Fyra is Swedish for the number four . It stands for the four cities between

which was driven on the service between Amsterdam and Brussels,

Amsterdam , Rotterdam , Antwerp and Brussels . The brand name was coined

by the brand agency Globrands Naming & Strategy , which is also the name

coined Thalys . The company states that the name Fyra internationally easy to

pronounce and radiates " pride and self-confidence ."

 

 

History

 

Purchase

Hoofddorp between the Dutch and the Belgian border , after years of delays and cost overruns the HSL - South line completed in 2009 . The final cost was more than seven billion. The line was operated by the HSA , the partnership between the NS and KLM , which won the European tender had until 2024, fifteen years , an annual amount of 148 million euros to say to the Dutch government for use of the line . That amount was more than eighteen million higher than what the Dutch government considered financially acceptable to get . Scheduled for the HSA profitable Nevertheless, the bid was accepted. To reduce the operating costs of the HSA was by the Dutch government , in consultation with the HSA and SNCB opted for a cheaper and thus slower train than planned . The company AnsaldoBreda won that battle .

Problems delivery equipment

 

In May 2004, the HSA and SNCB a contract with AnsaldoBreda for nineteen V250 trains , which were to be delivered no later than April 2007 . In 2005 it became clear that this date could not be met . This was partly due to the long doubts about the security system . [Source ? ] Eventually the whole new ERTMS 2.3.0 . selected . Because there was no backup system for this , could not start the service replacement of 160 km / h on time.

 

In the former Dutch Ministry of Transport in 2005 there were already concerns that could arise with the delivery of the V250 due to inexperience AnsaldoBreda problems. In a then prepared by a parliamentary committee investigation was that al The report has been kept secret for six years because of confidential information . Eventually it on February 14, 2013 in the open.

From the procurement of HSL to the HSA everything went wrong . Then were increasing problems with the ERTMS security , conflict with Belgium and large cost overruns . Already in 2007 there was the fear that a failure of the HSA threatened .

In the spring of 2009 the first V250 trainset came to the Netherlands . From the outside it looked finished , but the interior consisted solely of equipment . The second train followed not long after and was completely furnished.

 

In late January 2011, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment reported that the operation of the Fyra such losses were the HSA would go bankrupt. Without financial assistance [8 ] The reason was the excessive expenditure on the NS across the lower than estimated income. It took the Dutch State , as sole shareholder , hundreds of millions of euros to prop to turn off.

A June 2011 study published in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad confirmed that there was afforded far too high in the tender procedure and that there were great misunderstandings between the NS and the Ministry of Transport .

 

Nearly three years after the start of the service seemed to know . Fyra in the summer of 2012 after numerous setbacks more successful Nevertheless, there were still regular disruptions in service . So quick succession two trains stranded for hours in the tunnel near Rotterdam - Overschie .

 

First train :

The first Fyra train service began on September 7, 2009 . Initially Central drive between Rotterdam and Amsterdam Central station , once per hour , Monday to Friday , with up to 160 km per hour . Driving with TRAXX locomotives and regular intercity carriages . Step by step , the extended timetable . Since 12 April 2010, also at weekends and on public holidays and ridden since October 4, 2010 in a half-hourly service from December 12, 2010 and also at weekends . Then the service by April 3, 2011 extended to Station Breda .

 

V250 :

The Fyra train services between Amsterdam and Brussels reason of December 9, 2012 to January 17, 2013 with V250 trains AnsaldoBreda . Because the head shape of the locomotive they are also called ' Albatross ' and ' Dustbuster ' . Since its introduction , the nickname ' Aldi - train ' for , because it was chosen for the cheapest material .

Until the autumn of 2011 it was expected that the V250 was driving from the moment the 2012 schedule was implemented. [13 ] This eventually proved impossible . Between Amsterdam and Brussels There were problems with the doors , the software and the traction system . [14 ] The first , incidental , commercial ride with passengers in a train V250 took place on July 29, 2012 . Until September 10 that year rode the train outside the normal timetable to . From that date the train was once an hour between Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Central Station , next to the train with the TRAXX locomotives .

 

Replacement Benelux train by Fyra 

On December 9, 2012 , the Benelux train deleted and replaced by the Fyra train. The proposed high-speed service from / to The Hague was canceled . The stations Den Haag HS , Dordrecht and Roosendaal have been used , so they lost their only intercity connection with Antwerp and Brussels . The Fyra and Thalys got a monopoly on the direct connection between Rotterdam - Antwerp .

From that moment there was next Fyra and Thalys Amsterdam - Brussels ( which were applied with mandatory reservation only national market rates discounts are not valid and should take no bikes ) from Netherlands to Antwerp only the slow train Roosendaal - Antwerp . This required additional changes . Moreover, this service road ten stops and did he therefore longer on the route ( 44 minutes ) than the Benelux train ( 27 minutes) .

 

The Dutch and Belgian travelers organizations Travellers Public Transportation Association ( ROVER ) , Society for Better OV ( MVBOV ) and TreinTramBus saw this as undesirable , and served on November 8, 2012 a complaint with the Dutch Mededingingsautoriteit.Daarnaast organizations jointly sent a letter to the Belgian Minister of Public Enterprises and the Dutch Minister of Transport on an alternative to the existing plans on the HSL and the Benelux train . It was also lodged a complaint with the European Commissie.Op plans was considerable criticism by ROVER and TreinTramBus , because they feared that by December 9, 2012 would significantly deteriorate . Rail services between Belgium and the Netherlands They found the international Fyra too expensive , especially for commuters , and the slow train Roosendaal - Antwerp a bad alternative . Both associations suggested by the Dutch State Secretary of Infrastructure and the Environment , the province of North Brabant and the Belgian Federal Minister of Public Enterprises for through competition to create . Their eyes in a better alternative

 

In addition brought the consumer in the National Consultative Consumer Public Transport unsolicited advice to the NS , NS Hispeed and the Ministry of Transport on the future of the rail Randstad and Noord-Brabant in Belgium . [ 18] examined the SNCB it was possible to maintain . Benelux Service End of 2007 there was a pilot project , with a daily through train IC Brussels - Amsterdam and vice versa (Nos. 613 and 633 ) were replaced by domestic equipment with a change in Roosendaal .

 

Connect Hague - Brussels :

In 2005 it was agreed between the Netherlands and Belgium that an international Fyra connection would be between The Hague and Brussels . SNCB then announced this to have any money. Also, according to the Belgians the line unprofitable. On December 3, 2012 it was decided that an interim solution : a fast Fyra connection between Breda and Antwerp . On the route from April 8, 2013 to eight times a day a train ride. There is no reservation duty and toeslag.Den Hague this was definitely no connection to the Fyra . In February 2013 showed that the Belgian railway connection Hague - Brussels had never wanted and therefore had not ordered this twentieth train .

On January 16, 2013 The Hague took the initiative to investigate whether there is still a direct train service between Brussels and The Hague can come . It would be an intercity train to stop at the same stops as the Benelux train did. The rail capacity has been requested by ProRail .

The Hague has decided to continue efforts to Brussels to write one. Direct train in life The initiative has been named Lowlands Line .

 

Start and end international Fyra :

 

First month :

From the first day , Sunday, December 9, 2012 , had the Fyra Amsterdam - faced with many technical difficulties Brussels . Thus fell in the first week uit.Ze stranded trains in tunnels or reason with great delay. At least half of the passengers traveling with delays .

The lower frequency , the higher rates , the absence of subscriptions , reservation is mandatory , it can not take bikes and the expiry of the direct IC trains between The Hague , Dordrecht and Roosendaal hand and Antwerp, Mechelen and Brussels on the other hand , led to a storm of criticism from travelers , consumer organizations and politics.

A concert of railway directors, six days after the start of the new timetable , led to the mandatory reserve (provisional ) to abolish . [33 ] A day before had the Dutch State Secretary Wilma Mansveld for Infrastructure and Environment have claimed because of safety on the reservation coercion hold .

 

One month after the start of the train , there were still many delays and failed trains . Because of the expensive and unreliable service is the local train Antwerp - Roosendaal become overcrowded , so the equipment deployment had to be doubled . According to the SNCB could the problems persist for months .

 

January 2013 

On January 15, 2013 was half of Fyra trains due to defective material , while the other half rode with delays of about an hour . Between Antwerp and Breda and Roosendaal ingezet.Als buses were due to the winter conditions fell two days later, on January 17 , seventeen of the twenty trains , or 85 % . Subsequently the train Fyra as of January 18, 2013 for an indefinite time opgeschort.Reizigers were now on the route Roosendaal - to take the slow train Essen making the trip Amsterdam - Brussels balance lasted about an hour longer than previously had to be switched with the Benelux train and twice .

 

The Belgian and the Dutch Parliament then decided to keep the Fyra problem . A joint hearing The Belgian Security and Interoperability of Railways ( DRIS ) , the highest security authority of the railways , decided on January 18, 2013 to the Fyra at HSL prohibit 4 after by icing a bottom grid brake in pieces that was found on the trail . [ 39 ] only test runs with empty trains were still allowed since then . Resumption of service would only take place if it was shown that the trains were reliable . [40 ] A day later, on January 19 , showed the NS know that was AnsaldoBreda held responsible for the problems . At the same time made ​​known to decrease the NS program of new Fyra trains stop was immediately put until the technical problems were solved . [41 ] At the time, nine of the sixteen by the NS ordered Fyra trains delivered . The three ordered by the SNCB trains had not yet delivered . The trains cost about twenty million each. Part of this amount has already been paid . NS Went there first time that the trains ' in a few days it would drive again ' , it was announced that it could take the V250 train again for months on 19 January could be deployed. A replacement train service between Amsterdam and Brussels could not be settled in the short term . 

 

SNCB made ​​on 21 January that again intercity trains were running between Antwerp Central and Roosendaal . From January 26 Well had to be switched . The Fyra was removed at NS Hispeed and placed under the direct administration of the central administration of NS . On January 22, 2013 NS director Bert Meerstadt said that the NS is considering to stop using the V250 . Confidence in AnsaldoBreda was in his way . According to him, it is theoretically possible to send the trains about three months back but then there attend any speed equipment available . That should be , with a delivery time of several years . Then purchased again The key for railway companies is that there is a reliable connection Amsterdam short term - Brussels comes .

AnsaldoBreda claimed the same day that the technical problems with the V250 " within days " were over. Technically, there were, according to CEO Giuseppe Marino no major problems .

 

During the hearing of Dutch and Belgian parliamentarians in Brussels was informed that ProRail and Infrabel space to daily to drive between The Hague and Brussels . Sixteen times a day a regular intercity train on January 28, 2013 To drive , also between Amsterdam and The Hague had to be adjusted because the timetable trains to and from the Hanze had taken . Spacetime since December 9 The ( Dutch ) vehicles of the former Benelux train were available , but the ( Belgian ) locomotives to come yet . Before 1 February had to answer about the resumption of the service. The future of the side out Fyra trains remained unclear . SNCB and NS gave AnsaldoBreda the contractual three months to find a solution to ensure the technical defects with the V250 . If that fails, the contract would be terminated , which could lead to a long legal battle unilaterally. The NS has approximately 100 million paid SNCB approximately 35 million. The total cost of the nineteen amounts ordered trains about 400 million euro.Mansveld already urged the NS on an alternative train Amsterdam as soon as possible - Brussels to set .

 

According to Roel Berghuis of the Dutch trade union FNV Track threatens train staff to be the brunt of Fyra problems . According to him, the Dutch and Belgian infrastructure of high-speed rail can not close tightly to each other due to lack of consultation and AnsaldoBreda chosen only train manufacturer because it was the cheapest , while they had insufficient experience with the construction of this type of trains. 

 

Image and reputation damage 

Travellers Associations TreinTramBus ROVER and expressed the desire of many travelers and called for a reintroduction of the classic Benelux train between the two countries . The Thalys can help according to them , temporarily open up at the normal rate between Brussels and Amsterdam . by this train

According to experts, can not be saved . The image of the high-speed train Fyra Imago expert Rudy Belkom said that there is nothing else for NS HiSpeed ​​than to seek to change the name and try again. another supplier

( Temporary ) replacement Fyra by Intercity 

 

 Temporary intercity train Hague - Brussels :

On February 1, 2013 shared Mansveld and SNCB director Marc Descheemaecker note that as of February 18 on weekdays an intercity train was run between The Hague and Brussels , on the route of the former Benelux train . The time , according to schedule , was 2 hours and 15 minutes. On Saturday and Sunday the train goes no further than Antwerp , due to work on the Belgian rail . Travelers to and from Amsterdam should change in The Hague or Rotterdam because the route between Amsterdam and The Hague has no capacity for additional trains . In the first weeks why two trains per day . Since March 11 , that number increased to eight daily trains . For this train is no reservation and charges . The replacement train persists as long as the problems with Fyra trains have not been resolved .

 

Meanwhile, look for the causes of technical problems. In early 2013 it was revealed that problems with the European safety system ERTMS are one of the main causes . This system relies on a GSM Network Rail (GSM - R ) . The train is thus permanently connected . It provides information about the speed and position, which semaphores are unnecessary. At the border between Belgium and the Netherlands , the Fyra train switch to the GSM-R network in the country where the train entering. A programming error was found to have the train to lose contact with the network at the border causing the train to stop automatically . Increased risk Another problem in the software that caused the train to signal that he is driving in the wrong direction , which inhibits the train .

 

Possibly this will solve software problems at least a year to complete, much longer than the contractual three months SNCB had given . Supplier of the trains This would then cancellation of , at least the Belgian , as the trains betekenen.Ook Fyra would go away after a solution of the existing problems ever again remains the alternative intercity train possible bestaan.Door Dutch MPs were urged more than eight times to drive ( at least twelve times) a day to drive . train service from and to Amsterdam

On March 13, 2013 left Amsterdam and fifteen surrounding communities , united in the Regional Council of the City Region Amsterdam , know that they want a direct train connection between Amsterdam and Brussels returns. Since the Benelux train Fyra and no longer drive , this connection is canceled. They advocate for better train connections to Brussels , without changing in The Hague.

On April 15, 2013 announced the NS that is applied for sixteen intercity trains per day between Amsterdam and Brussels . Timetable for 2014 , starting in December 2013 , space on the track Investigated whether there may or may not be driven by the high-speed line and with what equipment . This will include identification of any double deckers ( VIRM ) on the fast track to drive , or that domestic Fyra 's (the V160 ) adapted to worden.De SNCB has also filed an application to keep track of the Benelux train quite like that of the Fyra .. The NS also launched an investigation into whether there is a need for a high speed connection to Fyra , partly in view of the cuts that the NS should implement .

 

NMBS stop cooperation AnsaldoBreda :

On May 31, 2013 decided to dissolve the SNCB . The contract for the purchase of three V250 trainset unilaterally

The V250 were under scrutiny by the engineering consultants Mott MacDonald and Concept Risk and have included the following problems encountered :

 

Major problems with water intrusion .

Rust on the shaft , with the example of a shaft of a train with rust after only a few kilometers away.

Poor fitting of hydraulic and electric cables, these are prone to the bottom of the rail, which for damage caused by ballast .

 

A severed power returns .

Technical differences between the sets , because the mechanics of the set manufactured in their own way .

The horn (part of the safety system ) was not protected and snowfall was unusable because snow was piling up in the typhoon .

 

Problems with the braking system . The brake system used is designed for 160 km / h , and not approved by the UIC 250 km / h , the maximum permissible speed for the V250 . Moreover, during winter conditions required an even lower limit because the braking distance is too long otherwise .

 

The batteries ( located under the passenger cab ) can ignite . There are pictures of visible damage after a battery fire in Watergraafsmeer . A picture shows scorch marks in the carpet of the vehicle.

 

A total of twenty-six problems that prevented use in commercial service . The defects were the nine couples that NS had already decreased , only two available for testing . The rest stood with damage to the side : two with winter damage , with a fire after a vlamvattende battery , because a large-scale problems with doors , two because of problems with the bogies ( too much vibration while driving ) and because of traction problems .

The research made ​​use of the penalty point system NedTrain . This system gives five points at a discomfort problem , ten points at a confidence problem and twenty points to a safety problem . Maximum allowed a train according to this system , ten demerits . Research at two half - V250 set resulted in 1157 and 2019 points .

The Fyra trains according Descheemaecker unsafe , unreliable and " a bad bargain ." The delivery of three trains destined for Belgium is canceled and the money paid - 37 million - will be reclaimed . AnsaldoBreda said " stunned , shocked and disappointed" at the decision in Belgium , rejected all criticism and called it an insult to all Belgians , Dutch and Italians in the project have gewerkt.De manufacturer prepares for legal action against the SNCB .

 

NS stops V250 :

The NS - management spoke of wanting to stop the V250 and the concession will carry with alternative material . On May 29, 2013 The Supervisory Board of the NS granted to this the day after its unanimous approval . On June 3, 2013 the proposed decision was made public . Proceed according to the NS " not justified nor desirable for the traveler " . The company believes that AnsaldoBreda is unable to remedy " within the passenger and NS acceptable limits , risk and financial frameworks " . Ongoing technical problems "Has become the V250 train is not sufficiently reliable to make a robust timetable clearly possible ," said an official in the NS NS verklaring.Volgens comes from studies conclude that the train design is acceptable , but that the final excessive errors shows . " Thus, the reduction insufficient quality and each train is different finished ", said the Dutch state . The expected life of the train - contractually thirty years - in the opinion of the considerably shorter by the NS consulted experts. The recovery of the phasing errors would take a half to two years and the NS expects that under the most favorable schedule the V250 are not fully commercially deployed for 2018, but is now already that this scenario may be because not achieved is not the manufacturer would have the right skills . Maintenance of the V250 would be expensive and labor intensive than expected , which is according to the NS to get the material sufficiently reliable.

 

The plan was approved on June 7, 2013 by the Dutch Council of Ministers . For the Netherlands, Belgium complicated than for the consequences : HSA has nine trains owned and already 120 million down payment .

Immediately after the withdrawal of the NS confidence in AnsaldoBreda , pledged the travelers and organizations ROVER MVBOV their trust in the NS as operator of the train Amsterdam - Brussels . They insist on that another takes over the process.

AnsaldoBreda stated that " there is nothing wrong with Fyra " and it can be. 's Decision to quit is not taken for technical reasons " The trains have all international tests passed and they meet all safety standards , as evidenced by the certificates issued . By the Dutch and

 

Belgian railways

Get the NS of the Dutch state the opportunity to reach that meets the requirements of the concession . With an alternative proposal Then tested whether this proposal meets the passenger and whether it is legally permissible . Also examines the financial consequences for the taxpayer. Only when everything is positive , the Dutch government wants to retain the NS . His concession

The NS and SNCB intend to restore . Since December 2013 the Benelux train finally in honor To replace the international Fyra , they also want additional Thalys trains use from the end of this year, but more than two is getting onhaalbaar.Reizigers the choice between the Thalys with higher rates and reservation duty and the slower Benelux train . SNCB gives to investigate whether it is possible to drive . Eurostar to the Netherlands for consideration Who would do such for the first time in 2016 could be used . Because the NS is not a shareholder in the Thalys and Eurostar , this means that in that case the SNCB with the NS will compete in the HSL .

The NS took on 4 June the brand Fyra the ads for the remaining Fyra service on the route Amsterdam - Breda , still provisional.

 

Ernst & Young report purchase procedure V250 :

The Board of Directors of the SNCB decided to give justice . On June 3, 2013 a research report by Ernst & Young about your purchase of the V250 That happened under Belgian legislation and government officials are required to notify if there is a suspicion that a criminal offense committed. Prosecution The report was requested by Descheemaecker without he briefed his executive committee. A day later, the prosecutor decided to launch into possible irregularities. Judicial Research in Brussels Investigated the reason why AnsaldoBreda the unit price of a V250 between December 2003 and February 2004 increased from 18.9 to 20.7 million. The Italians were the only ones who offer indienden . It is examined whether the company was that out on improper grounds and had therefore raised the price .

 

Parliamentary inquiry Netherlands 

A majority of the Dutch parliament voted on June 4, 2013 with the holding of a parliamentary inquiry into the issues surrounding the Fyra trains . The investigation began after the summer . 

On July 4, 2013 was Madeleine Toorenburg elected as chairman of the parliamentary inquiry . The committee further session Ard van der Steur , Mei Li Vos , Vera Bergkamp , Machiel de Graaf and Henk van Gerven .

 

Lloyd's Register :

The company Lloyd 's Register was enabled by the NS and SNCB to guide the construction and simultaneously received a commission from AnsaldoBreda to approve . Fyra the The company adopted the trains well .

Occupation and passenger numbers 

 

occupancy :

The occupation in 2010 Fyra trains stood outside rush five percent.In December 2010 showed that passenger demand, when 100,000 per month , so was low that NS Hispeed expected fifteen years to suffer. Operator HSA threatened bankruptcy and filed a new business case to the Minister . The HSA has several times been postponing for the fixed fee payable to the Dutch government for the concession .

Since the reduction in fees in 2011 , the number of passengers per month four times in the early days . The main reason seems to be that the other direct intercity trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Haarlem had to drive, as before 1981 , when there was still no Schiphollijn . Railway timetable in 2012 via the detour

In early 2013 , the average occupancy rate of Fyra Amsterdam - Rotterdam around 22 % in the peak rising to 33 %.

 

routes:

Dutch domestic train 

Central Amsterdam - Schiphol - Rotterdam Central - Breda (half-hourly service)

Direct trains between Schiphol and Rotterdam is only through the high-speed line , so surcharge . Critics believe that the NS are so travelers will ' force ' of the expensive and unreliable Fyra to use Moreover, driving in the NS timetable 2013 intercity Vlissingen - . Rotterdam - Amsterdam twice hourly weather or through Schiphol ( instead of via Haarlem ) . 

 

Train Amsterdam - Brussels 

From December 9, 2012 to January 17, 2013

Central Amsterdam - Schiphol - Rotterdam Centraal - Antwerp Central - Brussels South ( ten times per day )

Antwerp train - Noorderkempen 

 

There riding since June 15, 2009 domestic shuttle services between Antwerp Central Station and the Noorderkempen . The rolling stock used ( a Desiro ML ) is not allowed in the Netherlands , because it is not about ATB , among others.

Train Breda - Antwerp 

According to plans , eight trains between Antwerp and Breda riding without reservation duty. Daily from April 8, 2013 By the decision of the NMBS stop with Fyra V250 is the plan of the table.

SNCB was never intended to drive . Fyra V250 on the other HSL connections in Belgium Be the Fyra V250 use the new railway 25N between Mechelen and Brussels . Until then the Fyra V250 use the current line .

 

speed :

The train is the Amsterdam - Brussels ( 212 km ) off in 1 hour and 46 minutes, an average speed of 120 km / h , including stops .

 

Netherlands :

125 km in length , 85 km high-speed railway

the remaining 40 km is a partly existing and partly newly constructed railway line , but no high-speed line . [92 ]

 

Belgium :

87 km in length , 35 km high-speed railway

the remaining 52 km is existing line with a maximum authorized speed of 160 km / h , with restrictions at the level of the north-south in Brussels (50 km / h ) , the station of Mechelen ( 100 km / h ) and the tunnel under Antwerp Central ( 90 km / h ) . [93 ] Until 2011 there was a bridge in Duffel ( 90 km / h , now replaced ) .