It is finally more or less finished(read: testing starts), the Betuweroute. Total costs, for this 2-rail 160 km long railroad from the port of Rotterdam to the border with Germany, are 4.7 billion Euro.That is 15000 Euro for a single meter of single rail-track. That has to be a fucking modern high-tech railroad!?!?
- 130 viaducts and bridges, total length: 12 km
- 190 fauna passages
- 5 tunnels, total length: 18 km
- 25kV AC
- new European Train Control System
- max. speed: 160 km/h
- no same level crossings
The tunnels are probably the most expensive part.
There has been a lot of debate about the profitability of this route. I really don't know any details, but I would say that this thing has a long lifetime and will pay off in the long run. It seems to be a very important connection in our infrastructure.
3 comments:
Developing infrastructure is always a good thing in my opinion. EUR 15,000 sq/m better be spent towards its longevity!
Although I'm a big supporter of investments like this, I believe some errors were made in the process.
Alternatives were ignored, this track just had to be build. What about transport over water? Just some extra freightboat?
No need for expensive infrastructure, just more boats! We already have an excellent infrastructur to Germany, it's called the Waal!
They also spent some good money on the tunnels. why? They thought it would be wise to build extra high tunnels, so they could drive this train in the future.
Sadly, this train will never come to the Betuwelijn, because to make this idea work, you'll have to change all the heights on the route. And that's where they stopped thinking.
The trains won't stop on the border, no, they go to germany, austria, italy. And those supersized trains won't be able to go there.
This makes me a sad panda.
Trains are way faster than boats, but good point sad panda!
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