HSL-Zuid

HSL-Zuid
Route of the HSL-Zuid
Overview
OwnerProRail
LocaleNorth Holland, South Holland and North Brabant,
 Netherlands
Service
Operator(s)Nederlandse Spoorwegen
NS International
Thalys
Eurostar
History
Opened7 September 2009
Technical
Line length125 km (78 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead
Operating speed300 km/h (186 mph)
SignallingETCS Level 2, ETCS Level 1 (fallback)
Route map

Line from Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport enlarge…
47.7
Hoofddorp
Line to Leiden
Ringvaart
29.3
River Oude Rijn
Line LeidenWoerden
22.6
15.5
Line Den HaagGouda
Line Den HaagRotterdam
5.2
2.8
Line Hoek van HollandGouda
Line from Utrecht Centraal
0.0
Line from Den Haag enlarge…
0.0
Rotterdam Centraal enlarge…
Rotterdam Blaak
River Nieuwe Maas
Rotterdam Zuid
Rotterdam Stadion
Rotterdam Lombardijen
Freight line to Europoort
Barendrecht
Line to Breda
River Oude Maas
River Dordtsche Kil
River Hollands Diep
Line from Rotterdam
34
Line to Breda
42.5
Line RoosendaalBreda
54.5
84.0
Border Netherlands / Belgium
HSL 4 to Antwerp and Paris enlarge…

The HSL-Zuid (Dutch: Hogesnelheidslijn Zuid, English: South high-speed line), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 mile) Dutch high-speed rail line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North Brabant. Together with the Belgian HSL 4 it forms the Schiphol–Antwerp high-speed railway. Originally scheduled to be in service by 2007, the first public operations began on 7 September 2009, after a ceremony on 6 September.[1]

Intercity Direct operates between Amsterdam and Breda, for the time being with conventional Intercity carriages and TRAXX locomotives. On 13 December 2009 Thalys began services from Amsterdam to Paris and Brussels on the HSL-Zuid. On 4 April 2018 the first scheduled Eurostar connected Amsterdam to London via the HSL-Zuid.

Talks about a high-speed line between Amsterdam and the Belgian border started under Prime Minister Joop den Uyl (1973–1977); work began during Wim Kok's first term (1998–2002). The Rijkswaterstaat, a government agency under the authority of the Ministry of Transport and Water Management, was responsible for the organisation of the project. The Government of the Netherlands awarded the country's largest ever public-private partnership (PPP) contract to the consortium Infraspeed until 2030; it is responsible for design, construction, financing and maintenance. The line features state-of-the-art technology, including ETCS L2 train control systems provided by Siemens AG and Alcatel (activities now part of Thales), and will be an ERTMS 2.3.0 Corridor.

  1. ^ "NS Hispeed launches HSL-Zuid services". Railway Gazette International. 2009-09-07. Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2009-09-07.