Due to a withdrawn tender, it will take even longer before the Maaslijn railway is electrified and eventually doubled. The grand plans for the railway are always hampered by accumulating delays and costs.
A look back at the past of the railway between Roermond and Nijmegen, which was accompanied by many fits and starts.
Also read: Maaslijn tender stopped: nobody wants
1883 – Construction of the Meuse Line
The single-track Maaslijn was built in 1883 and for many years had been important for coal trains from the Limburg mines. After they closed in the mid-seventies, the emphasis shifted to passenger transport.
1988 – Rail21
At the end of the 1980s, the Dutch Railways (NS) presented an ambitious plan for a new railway policy. The Maaslijn had to become part of the Interregio-Snelnet. A train would run on the route twice an hour. An intercity would also run between Maastricht and Groningen once an hour. This required electrification and doubling of the track. That didn’t happen.
1996 – Express trains
The entire route was modernized in 1997, which allowed express trains, among other things, to run on the route. In the following years they ran once an hour between Roermond and Nijmegen. There were also local trains on (parts of) the route. The route to and from Nijmegen was always used a lot by students, so the train was often overcrowded.
2006 – Problems with diesels
When Veolia took over the operation of the line from the NS, the company had extra trains run because of the crowds. These were old diesel trains that suffered massive technical problems in the following years. They were also much too small for the increasing flow of travelers. This caused a lot of delays, skipped journeys and overcrowded trains. And lots and lots of travelers’ cabins.
2008 – Widening track and electrification
Since 2008, there has also been talk of expanding the infrastructure. The track is to be electrified and partially doubled. The original amount earmarked for this was EUR 154.6 million. 50 million of this was paid by the government and the rest by the provinces of Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Gelderland and the transport company. This amount continued to increase in subsequent years.
2014 – Additional trains
The doubling and electrification did not get off the ground due to mutual discussions about cost allocation. In all those years, the trains remained overcrowded, after which Veolia decided in 2014 to run extra trains on the still single-track route. It was a drop in the ocean.
Also read: Veolia deploys extra trains on Maaslijn
2016 – Arrival
Two years later, Arriva took over public transport in Limburg, because the Veolia concession had ended. The old Veolia trains were exchanged for more modern trains. With the expected electrification on the way, Arriva was also preparing to purchase electric trains. In 2020 they should trade in the problematic diesel trains.
Also read: Traveler’s club: Maaslijn’s ongoing misery unacceptable
Travelers said in 2018 how they found the problems on the railway to be unacceptable:
2019 – Deal on Cost
After years of haggling over who should pay for the incurred excess costs of the Maaslijn expansion project, the authorities and rail manager ProRail finally reached an agreement on absorbing a shortfall of just under 60 million euros. At that time, a budget of 213 million euros was available for the electrification of the Maaslijn, instead of the originally estimated 155 million.
Also read: Agreement: Maaslijn electrification to continue
2021 – Costs are rising again
After this agreement, the railway network manager ProRail examined the project again. This infrastructure company estimated the costs much higher. They now came to about 320 million euros, 96 million more than before. ProRail will also look at how the new target date of 2024 can be achieved. Later in the same year, it appears that this so-called recovery plan will cost an additional 30 million euros.
2022: New deadline not feasible
At the beginning of April this year, State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen of Infrastructure announced that the approach to the Maaslijn would again be delayed and that the intended end date of the end of 2024 was no longer feasible. The reason for this is the shortage of materials such as steel, copper and wood. And the high prices that have to be paid as a result. The cause of this is the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.
2022 – Tender closed
A week and a half later, ProRail pulled the plug from the tender because of the shortage of materials. No party can be found willing to take on the job. All parties involved will meet again in June to discuss the current situation.