A study to build a new railway yard in the outskirts of the Dutch city of Rotterdam has been selected by the EU for co-financing under the 2010 TEN-T Annual Calls with a grant of almost €1.5 million.
The study will lead the way to the construction of the yard, which will have a positive impact on the capacity of the port to handle rail freight.
The study financed by the European Union, relates to the design and procurement procedures necessary to increase the railway yard capacity of the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe and starting point of Priority Project 24 (Railway axis Lyon/Genova-Basel-Duisburg-Rotterdam/Antwerpen).
The subsequent implementation of the works will remove an important transport bottleneck and increase the share of intermodal rail freight traffic.
It will also fill the capacity gaps on the hinterland rail freight corridor and trigger economic growth and development in Europe by ensuring a dynamic and efficient maritime and continental transport chain.
The study is expected to be completed by May 2012.
The studies are preparing the following railway components that will be added to the existent layout of Maasvlakte West, located on the west side of the port of Rotterdam:
- 10 yard tracks of 750 meters each
- 11 tracks used for the storage of locomotives
- Train Control System on each of the new tracks
- 25kV traction power on each of the new tracks
- Service paths and roads
