A special train from Amsterdam to Berlin on September 17, 2018

[Groningen]

On September 18, 2018 there will be special train departing Amsterdam Centraal 9.27 and it will run nonstop to Bad Bentheim arriving at 11.16. After change of locomotive it will continue to Berlin. This is done, because of the Innotrans in the capitol of Germany. Distance is about 180 kilometers.

So this train will not stop in Hilversum, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn, Deventer, Almelo and Hengelo. In front of this train there will be a second train. Picking up passengers in the mentioned cities. The train is 27 minutes faster than the normal international service.

The NS has the will to buy 12 locomotive so that locomotive change in Bad Bentheim is not necessary anymore.

Source (Dutch): https://nieuws.ns.nl/laten-zien-dat-het-kan-eenmalig-snellere-intercity-naar-berlijn/

 

[30907]

NS are lobbying for DB to reroute the service via the HSL omitting Stendal - ISTR that used to be the case. NS themselves decelerated the service by about 10min with extra stops a few years ago, when it went to full 2-hourly.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Is there a regular direct train between Amsterdam and Berlin normally?

 

[NSEFAN]

Is there a regular direct train between Amsterdam and Berlin normally?

Yes, I used it from Amsterdam to Berlin in early August. It was interesting having the switch from an NS loco to DB loco at Bad Bentheim.

 

[MarcVD]

Specially the switching needed to bring back the locomotives under the right power because the station, as far as I know, does not have tracks with switchable catenary.

 

[AlexNL]

Specially the switching needed to bring back the locomotives under the right power because the station, as far as I know, does not have tracks with switchable catenary.

Nearly all tracks in Bad Bentheim are switchable between 1500V DC and 15 kV AC, except for some headshunts.

See this track diagram (scroll to the right).

 

[MarcVD]

I stand corrected, thank you. I probably confused with another dutch border station. Venlo ?

 

[AlexNL]

At Venlo, the OHLE above tracks 1a, 2 and 3a can be switched between 1500 V DC and 15 kV AC. (Source: Sporenplan).

Emmerich (D) also used to have switchable OHLE, but this is no longer in use after the big overhaul of 2016. Back then, the 25 kV AC of the Betuweroute freight line was extended into Germany, where a voltage changeover to 15 kV AC takes place. Seperately, at Zevenaar, there is a changeover from 1500 V DC to 25 kV AC, as well as from the ATB-EG train protection system to ERTMS.

 

[MarcVD]

Thank you again. I had the distinct memory of a border station with the overhead line split in the middle, 15kv on one side and 1.5kv on the other, locos entering the station pantos down and launched back to the right power by a shunter. Did such a thing exist in the past ? Btw, those track plans are quite impressive. All the dutch network is covered ?

 

[AlexNL]

Venlo yard seems to have a set-up which matches your description.

Detailed track layout diagrams are available for almost the entire Dutch network, and are updated quite frequently.

 

[Taunton]

Thank you again. I had the distinct memory of a border station with the overhead line split in the middle, 15kv on one side and 1.5kv on the other, locos entering the station pantos down and launched back to the right power by a shunter. Did such a thing exist in the past ? Btw, those track plans are quite impressive. All the dutch network is covered ?

That was Domodossola on the Italian/Swiss border. Possibly elsewhere. The FS diesel shunter would pull the arriving FS electric loco northwards under the SBB catenary, uncouple, and then full-power push it rapidly up to a considerable speed, easily 40mph (yes, not kmph), jam its brakes on, and let the loco whizz back through the station, coasting.

Only in Italy …

An interesting one is at Ventimiglia, the FS/SNCF border station on the Mediterranean Coast main line. 3KV dc on the Italian side, 25Kv AC on the French. However, much of the SNCF stock is dual voltage due to their extensive 1500v DC lines, so all such stock is used on the SNCF side. There is a voltage changeover point about a mile to the west where SNCF goes onto 1500v DC (and the lights briefly go out), and an isolated mile at such power. FS trains meanwhile run around the immediate station area on this, at half voltage, before their own transition point in the east.

 

[MacCookie]

That was Domodossola on the Italian/Swiss border. Possibly elsewhere. The FS diesel shunter would pull the arriving FS electric loco northwards under the SBB catenary, uncouple, and then full-power push it rapidly up to a considerable speed, easily 40mph (yes, not kmph), jam its brakes on, and let the loco whizz back through the station, coasting.

Only in Italy …

FS do the same at Brennero.

At Venlo, I watched several freight trains arrive and drop their pans as they crossed between the two voltages and then get shunted back into the correct side.

https://flic.kr/p/oP1LWN
https://flic.kr/p/oP1Myu

Although the shunting in this case took place with a multi-system electric loco.

Cheers,
Ewan

 

[MarcVD]

Same operating model in Dobova, the border station between Slovenia and Croatia.

 

[JonasB]

That was Domodossola on the Italian/Swiss border. Possibly elsewhere. The FS diesel shunter would pull the arriving FS electric loco northwards under the SBB catenary, uncouple, and then full-power push it rapidly up to a considerable speed, easily 40mph (yes, not kmph), jam its brakes on, and let the loco whizz back through the station, coasting.

Only in Italy …

I've seen the same done in Spielfeld-Straß in Austria, close to the Slovenian border.

 

[Groningen]

On September 18, 2018

So it is September 17; not the 18th. My idea is Amsterdam - Amersfoort 30 minutes, Amersfoort - Hengelo 60 and Hengelo - Bad Bentheim 20. The stoppingservice departing from Amsterdam Centraal 4 minutes earlier must run on time untill Weesp.

 

[MarcVD]

I've seen the same done in Spielfeld-Straß in Austria, close to the Slovenian border.

Are you sure of that ? I was there last June on my way to Zagreb and had the impression that there were switchable tracks. But I may be wrong...

 

[JonasB]

Are you sure of that ? I was there last June on my way to Zagreb and had the impression that there were switchable tracks. But I may be wrong...

When i passed through the station, the locos were changed like this:

But it was a couple of years ago and they might have rebuilt the station since then.