Quintus Vosman

At the start of this year new 10-year concessions came into effect for infrastructure management and operation of passenger services on most of the Dutch railway network. Quintus Vosman considers whether lessons have been learned from the previous concession, and how the new agreements will shape the operation of the network over the next decade.

THE DUTCH province of Limburg is seeking financial support from the European Union to develop better cross-border train services to Germany and Belgium.

AN invitation to tender has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to operate Germany's Northwest Hessen Network for 15 years from December 2017.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has launched an investigation into allegations of corruption in the tender for a €510m contract to supply 118 Sprinter EMUs, which was awarded to CAF in December.

AFTER several frustrated attempts, the government of Flanders has once again raised the prospect of reopening the Iron Rhine, a direct rail link between the port of Antwerp and Mönchengladbach in Germany's industrial Ruhr region, which closed in the 1990s.

REGIONAL transport authorities in Germany and Poland have announced direct cross-border passenger services between Dresden and Wroclaw will be withdrawn on March 1, even though a four-year operating contract only began last year.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) says it is seeking to improve its financial performance this year after returning to profit in 2014.

RHINE-Ruhr Transport Authority (VRR) announced on February 10 that it has selected Siemens as preferred bidder for a contract to supply 82 EMUs for the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) network and maintain the fleet for 30 years.

FOLLOWING a public tender, the Dutch province of Limburg has granted Netherlands Railways subsidiary Abellio a 15-year concession covering all regional bus and rail services in the province.

FOLLOWING an international tender, the Bavarian Railway Authority (BEG) has selected National Express Rail, the German subsidiary of British rail and long-distance bus operator National Express, as preferred bidder for two 12-year contracts to operate the Nuremberg S-Bahn network.