THE HAGUE (dpa) – A recent contract signed by Germany to provide Transrapid magnetic levitation railway technology to China has kindled hope in Holland of a similar system being introduced in the north of the country.
Dutch politicians are keen to have a mag-lev system built in the north of Holland to connect the provincial capital Groningen with the powerful financial areas in and around the metropolis of Amsterdam. Plans for the construction and financing of the project have already been drawn up by a consortium of firms.The government is expected to decide some time in the next year whether trains will in future glide, almost silently over the “Zuiderzeelijn” (Zuider See Line) or trundle on traditional tracks.Dutch Premier Wim Kok announced recently, during a visit to Sigmar Gabriel, prime minister of Lower Saxony in Germany, that a binding decision is not likely to be forthcoming in the present year. There is little argument that such a rail connection between the provincial north and the financial heart of the country is necessary.At present three alternatives exist for Kok’s centre-left coalition. One is a new high-tech rapid transport system based on traditional rail technology. Or, there can be the expansion and extension of existing technology or a completely new mag-lev system. A decision on an additional mag-lev link between Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht, is to be taken later.Mag-lev technology is based on the attraction and repulsion effect of electromagnets installed in both vehicle and track to propel vehicles with almost no friction.Opinions currently differ, however, on the financing of the new technology. The 187-kilometre link between Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and Groningen would cost some 10.6 billion guilders (4.7 billion U.S. dollars), according to 1999 estimates.Sixty to 70 per cent would be covered by private finance, says the company consortium, which comprises amongst others, Siemens Niederlande, the construction company Ballast Nedam and the Hollandsche Beton Groep (hbg) and the ABN Amro Bank.Opponents of the project argue that traditional technology to provide the rail link would work out cheaper. Expectations of what the connection would bring also differ greatly.Proponents see an overall gain for the north in general, opponents regard the whole thing as an exercise in prestige, whose costs would far outstrip its use. Both groups agree, however, that the project is fraught with risk.The planned circular route between the large cites, the “Rondje Randstad”, would involve private investment of between 80 and 90 per cent. This link would be some 164 kilometres long and cost around 4.5 billion dollars, but has not found as much support amongst planners in the west, compared to the project in the North. Experts see more advantage in expanding and improving existing rail connections.Supporters of the new technology base their claims on wider- ranging final results, such as the continuation of the Zuiderzeelijn mag-lev line on into Leer, Oldenburg and Bremen in neighbouring Germany, even as far afield as Hamburg, and comprising in the end some 456 kilometres.Others see for the future a complete network of mag-levs connecting the Randstad (outlying Dutch fringe areas) with the Ruhr industrial area, the Munsterland and the Rhineland in Germany.“If enough courage could plucked up to invest in the magnetic railway project, then this, in terms of mobility, would mean a qualitative leap in the driving force of our economy,” say rail experts in Utrecht.
