Voltage change at Bad Bentheim - how does it work?

[AdamWW]

I've read that Bad Bentheim (near the Dutch/German border) has voltage switchable catenary.

I'm curious about how that actually works (or, if it's not the case any more in this world of multi-voltage locomotives, how it used to work).

Does anyone know?

I.e. Who switches the voltage whan appropriate (signaller? big button on the platform?), and how do the drivers know when the voltage is appropriate for their locomotive?

It seems as there is the potential (excuse the inadvertent pun) for bad things to happen if someone gets it wrong.

It's quite likely I've been through a station like this at some point without being aware of what was going on, but the only times I've knowingly been across voltage changes have been with multi-voltage engines/units, or one one occasion in Croatia where the split seemed to be half way down the station and incoming locomotives coasted in with the replacement locomotive giving it a shove back into its own territory before coupling on to the train.

 

[DanielB]

At Bad Bentheim, the voltage is set when the path for an arriving (or departing) train is set. So, when a train is arriving from the Netherlands the path has an origin in the 1,5 kV area and thus the voltage is set to 1,5 kV along the platform and onto the siding where the locomotive reverses. The German locomotive is waiting on another siding (these sidings have fixed voltages) and setting a path towards the platform will result in a change of voltage to 15 kV allowing the locomotive to shunt to the train.
The system has a form of protection: changing the voltage is not possible while a platform is occupied. When that's the case someone has to actually go to the platform and make sure the locomotive has its pantographs down.

The above is the short version, but an extensive explanation can be found here (in German). And at sporenplan.nl one can find a schematic drawing of the layout.

Currently, Bad Bentheim is the only station with switchable catenary used by passenger through trains. Emmerich used to have a similar system, but this has now been changed to a standard voltage changeover. (Actually two: passenger trains have to swith from 15 kV to 25 kV in Emmerich and then again from 25 kV to 1,5 kV at Zevenaar Oost on the other side of the border).

Venlo station is also equipped with switchable catenary, but here no through trains exist so it's just switched to allow a German train to arrive at a platform. The cargo tracks are not switchable but have an isolated part between the two voltages, thus require a diesel locomotive to shunt away a single voltage locomotive. However, this installation might also cease to exist in the future as the Nijmegen - Venlo - Roermond line is to be electrified. Currently, the diesel trainsets on this route pass under the 15 kV catenary without any issue, but everything changes when those trains become electric. ProRail doens't want to extend the switchable catenary as it is prone to defects, but a regular voltage change is also not desired as that would involve heavy cargo trains changing voltage while climbing a hill.

 

[Beebman]

Here's an official 46-page DB Netz document on the voltage change arrangements at Bad Bentheim (in German and Dutch):

https://fahrweg.dbnetze.com/resourc...dc1516b7d4aa0e3b9/rw_302-9206Z01_a01-data.pdf

Section 5.3 has a track diagram of the station showing which lines are energised permanently at 1500V or 15kV and which are switchable.

 

[AdamWW]

At Bad Bentheim, the voltage is set when the path for an arriving (or departing) train is set. So, when a train is arriving from the Netherlands the path has an origin in the 1,5 kV area and thus the voltage is set to 1,5 kV along the platform and onto the siding where the locomotive reverses. The German locomotive is waiting on another siding (these sidings have fixed voltages) and setting a path towards the platform will result in a change of voltage to 15 kV allowing the locomotive to shunt to the train.
The system has a form of protection: changing the voltage is not possible while a platform is occupied. When that's the case someone has to actually go to the platform and make sure the locomotive has its pantographs down.

The above is the short version, but an extensive explanation can be found here (in German). And at sporenplan.nl one can find a schematic drawing of the layout.

Currently, Bad Bentheim is the only station with switchable catenary used by passenger through trains. Emmerich used to have a similar system, but this has now been changed to a standard voltage changeover. (Actually two: passenger trains have to swith from 15 kV to 25 kV in Emmerich and then again from 25 kV to 1,5 kV at Zevenaar Oost on the other side of the border).

Venlo station is also equipped with switchable catenary, but here no through trains exist so it's just switched to allow a German train to arrive at a platform. The cargo tracks are not switchable but have an isolated part between the two voltages, thus require a diesel locomotive to shunt away a single voltage locomotive. However, this installation might also cease to exist in the future as the Nijmegen - Venlo - Roermond line is to be electrified. Currently, the diesel trainsets on this route pass under the 15 kV catenary without any issue, but everything changes when those trains become electric. ProRail doens't want to extend the switchable catenary as it is prone to defects, but a regular voltage change is also not desired as that would involve heavy cargo trains changing voltage while climbing a hill.

Thanks.

Most interesting.

One thing I don't understand though - surely the voltage has to be changed while the platform is occupied by coaches otherwisea train couldn't change locomotives? Can the signalling system tell whether there is a locomotive present or not?

 

[D1024]

I don't think it's been updated for quite a while but the following website has a fairly detailed description of many border stations including Venlo and its in English..

border stations - introduction

border stations - introduction

www.bueker.net

 

[philg999]

Venlo station is also equipped with switchable catenary, but here no through trains exist so it's just switched to allow a German train to arrive at a platform. The cargo tracks are not switchable but have an isolated part between the two voltages, thus require a diesel locomotive to shunt away a single voltage locomotive.

A few months ago I was travelling on an ICE from Amsterdam to Koln which was diverted via Venlo. We passed through the station via the cargo yard and were sat waiting there for around 1 hour while various cargo trains moved around us. I wonder how would that have worked?

 

[DanielB]

A few months ago I was travelling on an ICE from Amsterdam to Koln which was diverted via Venlo. We passed through the station via the cargo yard and were sat waiting there for around 1 hour while various cargo trains moved around us. I wonder how would that have worked?

Similar to cargo trains with multivoltage locomotives probably: arriving from 1,5 kV, lower the pantograph and roll further until under the 15 kV catenary, then raise the correct pantograph again.

 

[eastwestdivide]

I don't think it's been updated for quite a while but the following website has a fairly detailed description of many border stations including Venlo and its in English..

border stations - introduction

border stations - introduction

www.bueker.net

More border crossing info at

Category:Border Crossings - EGTRE

egtre.info

which mentions switchable voltage tracks in Aachen station

Border Crossings: Belgium - Germany - EGTRE

egtre.info

and at Bad Bentheim

Border Crossings: Germany - Netherlands - EGTRE

egtre.info

 

[duesselmartin]

At Aachen the voltage is also changed within the station.

 

[TRAX]

Similar to cargo trains with multivoltage locomotives probably: arriving from 1,5 kV, lower the pantograph and roll further until under the 15 kV catenary, then raise the correct pantograph again.

Some trains don’t even change pantographs. Just open then close the circuit breaker.

 

[Beebman]

At Aachen the voltage is also changed within the station.

According to this it's changed manually in a control box on the platform:

https://dewiki.de/Media/Datei:AC_Hbf-Spannungsumschaltung.jpg

I'm sure I read somewhere that at Bad Bentheim it's controlled from the signal box but that station was electrified about ten years after Aachen (in 1977 I travelled via Harwich/Hoek to visit my cousin's family in Minden and I recall that the OHLE in Bad Bentheim was all very new and shiny).

 

[DanielB]

Some trains don’t even change pantographs. Just open then close the circuit breaker.

That would only be applicable to trains capable of using the same pantograph in the Netherlands and Germany. I don't think there are that many which are able to do it that way.

 

[duesselmartin]

At Aachen the voltage is also changed within the station.

it used to be the same in Emmerich. I am not aware of any German station where power changes mid platform as it does in Brennero or Chiasso.
Ventimiglia is interesting where the Italian locos simply run on the lower French voltage.

 

[TRAX]

That would only be applicable to trains capable of using the same pantograph in the Netherlands and Germany. I don't think there are that many which are able to do it that way.

I was giving a broader picture, not just talking about the Netherlands and Germany

 

[Beebman]

it used to be the same in Emmerich. I am not aware of any German station where power changes mid platform as it does in Brennero or Chiasso.

Not a station as such but at Oderbrücke the western half of the goods yard is powered at 15kV AC and the eastern half at the Polish 3Kv DC system:

https://eisenbahnfreunde.transnet-ffo.de/Bahnstromwerrk/Bilder/Fahrleitungsanlage 3 kV.html

(The plan is dated 1994 but AFAICS from the latest Eisenbahnatlas the arrangement is still the same.)

I'm guessing that all services between Germany and Poland are now hauled by multi-system locos but when the line was electrified in 1988 they'd have been in rather shorter supply so I'd guess it worked like at Brennero.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Ventimiglia is interesting where the Italian locos simply run on the lower French voltage

Similar situation with the Belgian units that run from Liège to Maastricht I think.

 

[DanielB]

Similar situation with the Belgian units that run from Liège to Maastricht I think.

Yes, those run on half power across the border. Also between Roosendaal and Essen by the way.

However this is limited to older stock, a Belgian Desiro would just shut down as soon as it contacts Dutch 1.5 kV catenary for example.

 

[MarcVD]

Some trains don’t even change pantographs. Just open then close the circuit breaker.

Very few voltage séparations could be handled that way. Several of them have a small section of neutral catenary between the two different voltages. This neutral section is earthed. Going through that with the panto up would basically short and disjonct the two substations.

Example : former commutable station of Quevy, 3 kV= SNCB - 25 kV ~ SNCF

 

[Re 4/4]

Switzerland used to have several switchable tracks near the border, some still exist I think. There's a separate signal for it that shows the voltage with orange digits, and counts as a signal at danger for any train with pan up that can't handle this voltage.

 

[Beebman]

Switzerland used to have several switchable tracks near the border, some still exist I think. There's a separate signal for it that shows the voltage with orange digits, and counts as a signal at danger for any train with pan up that can't handle this voltage.

EGTRE says that platforms 6 & 7 at Genève Cornavin are switchable between 15kV and 25kV:
https://egtre.info/wiki/Border_Crossings:_France_-_Switzerland

I don't think there's any other switchable tracks at any other border stations in Swotzerland.

 

[DanielB]

EGTRE says that platforms 6 & 7 at Genève Cornavin are switchable between 15kV and 25kV:
https://egtre.info/wiki/Border_Crossings:_France_-_Switzerland

I don't think there's any other switchable tracks at any other border stations in Swotzerland.

The very same link mentions a switchable platform at Basel SBB used by the TGV-services to Zürich.

 

[43096]

EGTRE says that platforms 6 & 7 at Genève Cornavin are switchable between 15kV and 25kV:
https://egtre.info/wiki/Border_Crossings:_France_-_Switzerland

I don't think there's any other switchable tracks at any other border stations in Swotzerland.

Basel SBB/SNCF had (has?) a switchable track. When the Vauban and Iris EC services ran they were a way of getting Basel shunting locos in, as the train would arrive from Zurich behind an Re4/4 or 460 and stop in the 15kV section and then be removed. The SNCF loco (latterly a Sybic) would be backed on by a SBB shunter which would haul the train across the voltage divide, shunter would be removed and the SNCF loco would take the train forward. The two times I did this move, it was one of SBB's Ee922 dual voltage shunters that performed the shunt.

 

[Beebman]

The very same link mentions a switchable platform at Basel SBB used by the TGV-services to Zürich.

Sorry missed that. However I've just discovered that track 3 at Pontresina on the RhB Railway is switchable between 11 kV AC and 1000 V DC due to the Bernina Line south of there having the latter voltage:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontresina_railway_station

I've found this page in German (dated 2013) which describes signalling arrangements in Switzerland on switchable tracks:

https://www.lokifahrer.ch/Signale/CH/fahrleitungssignale.htm (scroll down to 'Zonensignale').

Basically there are dot matrix displays which show the first digits of the current voltage. The only example I can find for now is on a cab ride from Pontresina with a '1' display appearing at 1:30:

 

[Re 4/4]

There used to be a short switchable section in Zurich too, for a crossover used by the Sihltal (15 kV AC) and Uetliberg (1200V DC) railways to access the depot.

 

[zuriblue]

There used to be a short switchable section in Zurich too, for a crossover used by the Sihltal (15 kV AC) and Uetliberg (1200V DC) railways to access the depot.

Although the Uetliberg has just been changed to 15kV. The current trains are all dual voltage capable, the older ones are in the not so tender care of Thommen at Kaiseraugst. (Swiss equivalent of Sims at Newport) It’ll be strange getting off at Triemli and not seeing the pantograph hanging over the platform (the Uetliberg ran on 1 kVDC and goes from a common platform at Zürich HB and Selnau so had the 1Kv catenary offset by about a meter from the AC catenary in the centre.)

Basel SBB/SNCF had (has?) a switchable track. When the Vauban and Iris EC services ran they were a way of getting Basel shunting locos in, as the train would arrive from Zurich behind an Re4/4 or 460 and stop in the 15kV section and then be removed. The SNCF loco (latterly a Sybic) would be backed on by a SBB shunter which would haul the train across the voltage divide, shunter would be removed and the SNCF loco would take the train forward. The two times I did this move, it was one of SBB's Ee922 dual voltage shunters that performed the shunt.

Platform 4 at Basel is dual voltage, switched from a box on the platform. There is a theatre box that shows 15 or 25 depending on the voltage. Nowadays the cross border traffic is all TGVs which can handle both voltages, the local French traffic all goes from the French platforms which is 25kV. Earlier SBB had a pool of dual voltage NPZs and latterly FLIRTs that would run through from Frick or Laufenburg to Basel then on to Mulhouse.

 

[AdamWW]

Thanks for all the responses.

It really is amazing being able to ask a question like this and get answers back so quickly.

 

[AlexNL]

The switchable OLE installations at Venlo and Aachen will be gone in a couple of years. The installations are aging, technical knowledge is hard to maintain and spare parts are hard to source as well. They will eventually be replaced by fixed voltage changeover locations situated on the borders. Nowadays the demand for switchable OLE is less than it once was, as multisystem locomotives and multiple units are commonplace now.

Once the installation at Bad Bentheim nears the end of its intended lifetime, I expect it will be dismantled and replaced with a fixed system (and a voltage changeover on the border) as well.

 

[FormerBritInMe]

Here in the US we have 2 changes of voltage/frequency on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. The majority of the line is 12Kv 25Hz from Washington up through New York City. This is the original OHLE built by the Pennsylvania RR in the 1930's with some modernization under way in several places. At Sunnyside Queens NY it switches to 12.5Kv 60Hz (Bowery Bay phase break) then at Mill River just East of New Haven CT it switches again to 25Kv 60 Hz. The latter is the newer electrification added by Amtrak in the 1990's. All of the Amtrak locomotives can switch automatically between the various voltages and frequencies. Some of the older suburban equipment does not, but then it tends to run in a more limited area where it only deals with one power system. The upcoming planned Metro North service from the New Haven Line into Penn Station where it would have to cross into 25Hz territory is planned to be handled by extending 600VDC third rail a short distance from Harold Interlocking (where the Amtrak line branches off) to the Sunnyside phase break. There is already 3rd rail into Penn Station from Harold Interlocking used by the Long Island Railroad.

 

[rvdborgt]

The switchable OLE installations at Venlo and Aachen will be gone in a couple of years. The installations are aging, technical knowledge is hard to maintain and spare parts are hard to source as well. They will eventually be replaced by fixed voltage changeover locations situated on the borders. Nowadays the demand for switchable OLE is less than it once was, as multisystem locomotives and multiple units are commonplace now.

For Aachen, they've been talking about it for at least 20 years and probably longer. And every time I hear about it again, it has been delayed again...
For Venlo, I'm not aware of any such plans.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I don't think it's been updated for quite a while but the following website has a fairly detailed description of many border stations including Venlo and its in English..

border stations - introduction

border stations - introduction

www.bueker.net

Thanks for that, this page was particularly entertaining!

border stations - Plavec (Slovakia - Poland) and Lupkow (Poland - Slovakia)

border stations - Plavec (Slovakia - Poland) and Lupkow (Poland - Slovakia)

www.bueker.net

(for what it's worth, the Wrocław-Krynica train is long gone, and I don't think any Slovak carriages have been near Sanok for many years!)

I'm guessing that all services between Germany and Poland are now hauled by multi-system locos but when the line was electrified in 1988 they'd have been in rather shorter supply so I'd guess it worked like at Brennero.

Yes, since 2010 if I'm not mistaken, all provided by PKP Intercity. Before that, DB operated the Berlin-Rzepin section, and Rzepin-Warsaw was handled by PKP Intercity. It wasn't really a big deal to have the locomotive change in Rzepin, as it provided for some more time for border control between Rzepin and Frankfurt (Oder).

No idea how it worked before DB provided multi-system locomotives, though.