Hi everyone, here I have a suggestion about a Dutch route from the NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) in The Netherlands. The route I have in mind is between Rotterdam Central Station and Utrecht Central Station. The total lenght of this route is 48km (29.8 miles). It takes an average of 43 minutes with the intercity from Rotterdam Central Station to Utrecht Central Station. Stations Blue: Intercity and Sprinter stop-over stations Red: Sprinter stations. Intercity trains won't stop at these stations Strike-through: Stations not in use for this particular services on the route. Route: - Rotterdam Central Station, - Rotterdam Noord, - Rotterdam Alexander, - Capelle Schollevaar, - Nieuwerkerk a/d Ijssel, - Gouda, - Gouda Goverwelle, - Woerden, - Vleuten, - Utrecht Terwijde, - Utrecht Leidsche Rijn, - Utrecht Central Station. Important to note is that sprinter services from Rotterdam Central Station will end at Gouda station and will turn back to Rotterdam. That's the reason I "strike-through" the train stations the sprinter and intercity trains train won't stop. Rollingstock NS Class 8600/8700/9400/9500 (VIRM): VIRM trains, full name Verlengd InterRegio Materieel (transl. Lengthened interregional rolling stock), are a series of electric multiple unit (EMU) double-deck trains operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen or NS (Dutch Railways), the principal railway operator in the Netherlands. NS has 178 of these double-deckers – 98 four-carriage sets, and 80 six-carriage sets. The trains were built between 1994 and 2009 – for the most part by Talbot, part of Bombardier Inc., with some railcars built by De Dietrich. The VIRM trains evolved out of the previously existing DD-IRM series (DubbelDeks InterRegio Materieel or Double-deck interregional rolling stock). The first batch of 81 VIRM trains was created by lengthening all the existing DD-IRM combinations by one or two railcars. Three-unit trainsets were augmented by one carriage to transform them into a four-unit VIRM, and the four-unit sets received two more carriages, to create six-unit VIRM trains. NS Class 4000/4200 (Koploper): The Intercity Materieel or ICM (lit. transl. Intercity Material – transl. Intercity Rolling Stock) is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands. The train received the nickname Koploper, because it had a so-called "walk through head". After these trains were modernized, the "walk through heads" were removed. The modernized train sets are referred to as Intercity Materieel Modern (ICMm). The prototypes were built in 1977, with full-scale production lasting from 1983 to 1994 by Talbot. The first train sets came into service in 1977. The trains run daily on the Dutch rail network and, together with the VIRM, form the most important equipment on services connecting the Randstad with the rest of the country. Walk through head The train's name Koploper means "headwalker" as a reference to "walking through the head" ("Headwalker"(Dutch: "Doorloopkop")). When ICM units joined, the doors at the end of the train would open, and a walkway would emerge, coupling with the other set and allowing passengers and crew to walk through to the next set. (This makes it easy for conductors to check tickets and check on the security of the passengers. In addition, each set had catering cars before they were abolished in 2003). Starting from 2005 these gangways were no longer used. The reason given was that they were not often used, but they also had many technical problems that made the trains late on a regular basis. During their refurbishment from 2006 onwards, these hallways were permanently sealed shut and the doors at the heads of the train were replaced by a light polyester plate, saving the NS maintenance costs. NS Sprinter Lighttrain (SLT) – Class 2400 / 2600: The Sprinter Lighttrain or SLT is an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train type operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands. They were built from 2007 to 2012 by Bombardier (2400) and Siemens (2600). It is the successor of the Sprinter SGM train type. The SLT is designed to replace the Mat '64 trains from the 1960s and 1970s, and to allow the double-decker NS DD-AR carriages from the 1990s to be refurbished/converted into self-propelling EMUs and transferred to longer, skip-stop Intercity services. The first 35 sets were ordered in 2005 and the first set, 2402 arrived in January 2008. The second set, 2602 arrived in February 2008 and both were used on test runs. In September 2007 NS ordered a further 64 sets, and these started arriving in the Netherlands in mid-2009. In 2009 a further 32 were ordered. The trains use regenerative braking, which can feed energy back into the contact wire when they brake. The trains are based on the DB Class 425 design, but adapted to meet the demands of the Sprinter. They use Jacobs bogies, which allow for thin and wide gangways between each coach. The units were built in Aachen and Hennigsdorf (2400) and Uerdingen (2600). The SLT trains are fitted with the ATB-EG train protection system used on the electrified Dutch network, as well as the European-standard ERTMS system that is planned to replace ATB-EG. The SLT trains are also fitted with GSM-R train radios. Safety System The safety system the NS use is the Automatische TreinBeïnvloeding or ATB ('Automatic train control') a Dutch train protection system first developed in the 1950s. Its installation was spurred by the Harmelen train disaster of 1962. ATB operates by the train collecting electrical signals from line-side apparatus and will override the driver's controls in the following situations: - a) failure to reduce speed at a caution signal (ATB will slow the train sufficiently to stop at the next signal). - b) failure to observe speed limit (ATB makes an immediate emergency brake application). ATB-EG controls 5 speeds: 40 km/h, 60 km/h, 80 km/h, 130 km/h and 140 km/h. Just like Pulse Code Cab Signaling the system works by sending pulses along the AC track circuit. When the circuit is closed by the train's front wheels an electromagnetic field is created with each pulse. These fields electromagnetically energise two coils in front of the leading axle which feed the pulses to the ATB-system. The onboard ATB system works out the amount of pulses per minutes and translates this to the 5 codes Yellow, Yellow6, Yellow8, Yellow13 and Green with corresponding speeds of 40, 60, 80, 130 and 140 km/h or so-called volle materieelsnelheid (full train speed). If the train's maximum allowed speed is lower (as for instance the SGM), the speed settings above its maximum speed will be omitted. Conclusion If Dovetail Games will create the first Dutch route in TSW4 or 5 in the future, I think this route is a good start, because the route itself is not too long. Like above mentioned, the route entirely takes 43 minutes with the intercity trains over 48km (29.8 miles). From Rotterdam to Gouda with the sprinter services, it takes 20 minutes over 24km (14.9 miles). The size of this route is similar to the Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr: Duisburg - Bochum Route.
Excellent idea and if you are wondering you can actually extend this to meet HRR by turning it into this HDBR. That stands for Hollandstrecke Duisburg Bochum-Rotterdam via Utrecht Centraal which makes this busy and HRR by having freight trains run on HRR to Rotterdam via Utrecht Centraal remember to carry out the voltage change at Emmerich am Rhein Zevenaar areas.
