Railways points are sensitive to cold and snow and can freeze or block. Winter precipitation increases the risk of points malfunctioning. As soon as it gets cold, we therefore heat a large number of the points. In the winter of 2020/2021, it turned out that more than half of the point heating on the Havenspoorlijn is not working properly. ProRail therefore replaces point heating control panels, repairs old points and deploys extra snow ploughs during winter precipitation. In this way, shunting yards, maintenance locations and freight terminals on the Havenspoorlijn remain fully available to freight transporters, even under winter conditions.
