Four level crossings
During the weekend of 2 and 3 October, there was one such closure at the beginning of the Europoort site. Among other things, contractor DuraVermeer replaced four level crossings there for ProRail. The work was necessary, but it did mean that access roads to the site were closed, with the result that companies on that site would not be accessible and could not transit their arriving goods containers. Staff would also not be able to get to and from work.
Consultation
Ben: “This is why ProRail discusses the work to be done well in advance in the Regular Users Consultation with stakeholders such as carriers, shippers, companies and the Rotterdam Port Authority. They then look in their planning when work on the track will cause the least inconvenience to them. In this case, companies on the Europoort site came up with the request to cluster these four level crossings, i.e. replace them in one weekend. To optimise the work, it was also decided to replace two points at the same time. Better to cause more disruption at once rather than less disruption over a longer period of time.”
Better to cause more disruption at once rather than less disruption over a longer period of time
– Ben van Hooijdonk, Project Manager at ProRail
Infrastructure in order
Edwin Verkerk, Programme Manager Capacity for Management at ProRail, chairs the Regular Users Consultation of Infrastructure in Order. He spoke about the practical benefits of this consultation before previous work in the harbour area. It is specially set up for the projects of the Infrastructure in Order programme. With this, the infrastructure in the Rotterdam harbour area is being brought into order at an accelerated pace. Due to overdue maintenance, these projects had to be carried out this year. Tendering began in mid-2020 and by the end of 2021, over 50 level crossings will have been renewed, 25 points replaced and many kilometres of track renewed.
Pride
Project manager Ben: “We are now almost done with all the urgent things that needed to be done this year. I am proud that we have already got this far, it is a huge amount of work in a short time. And the success of these projects hinges on coordination and cooperation with all stakeholders.”
