11 april 2024
In June 2023, the renovation of Kijfhoek started. Over the past few months, there has been hard work on the renewal of the rail and hump yard system. From last Tuesday, April 2nd, an exciting phase has started: testing the renewed hump yard system with locomotives and wagons (so-called ‘dynamic’ testing).
The intensive work on the renewal is clearly visible at Kijfhoek itself. A large number of people from contractors Dura Vermeer and Siemens, together with subcontractor Strukton, worked daily on the physical infrastructure. Much of the work is less visible. For example, ProRail’s ICT department is developing a new planning system for the hump yard system: KijfDIS Light. The carrier DB Cargo is responsible for installing new onboard equipment in the locomotives, which can communicate with the new hump yard system. And ProRail’s CM department has redistributed capacity at Kijfhoek to ensure that the tests can take place with as little disruption as possible for the carrier.
During the construction phase, the various components have already been individually tested. The software of the hump yard system has been extensively tested at Siemens’ factory in Braunschweig, Germany. There are also people who form the safety barrier around the test area and organise the tests. This is a collaborative team of Siemens, DB Cargo, and ProRail.
All external elements, such as the brakes embedded in the track and the carts used to push wagons, have been tested to ensure they are properly installed and connected. During the tests that started last Tuesday, April 2nd, it is being checked whether all these individual components function together as one safe hump yard system. For this purpose, humping is done with real wagons. The humping itself works just like the old hump yard system. See here the video with explanation.
The testing consists of two periods. First, Siemens will conduct tests for five weeks to demonstrate that the system is safe and functions according to requirements:
- Testing the communication between hump locomotive and hump yard system.
- Testing if all routes can be set and then driving these routes with the locomotive.
- Allowing the first wagons to roll off the hump based on the distribution list from the new planning system.
- Testing with the wagons if the hump yard system responds correctly, for example, if a wagon is heavier than expected by the system, or if a wagon is sent to the hump that should not be humped.