{"id":598934,"date":"2026-11-12T21:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T10:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=75955"},"modified":"2026-11-12T21:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T10:56:23","slug":"what-will-actually-change-this-time-rail-freight-questions-new-dutch-german-rail-pact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=598934","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What will actually change this time?\u2019 Rail freight questions new Dutch-German rail pact"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands and Germany have signed a joint declaration to collaborate more intensively on rail issues, including freight and military mobility. The Dutch rail freight sector welcomes the move, but questions what will actually be different this time. It presents RailFreight.com with a long list of issues it wants to see resolved.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Dutch State Secretary for Public Transport and Rail Annet Bertram and German Transport Minister Steffen Bilger signed the declaration<\/a> in Berlin on 10 November. Both countries want more trains to run between them and closer technical cooperation. They also want to make it easier for new operators to enter the international market.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands and Germany will plan four cross-border rail projects together. These include improving the German connection to the freight-dedicated Betuwe Line by expanding capacity on the Emmerich\u2013Oberhausen section. The Netherlands raised<\/a> the problems surrounding this Third Track last year. The other three are Venlo\u2013Kaldenkirchen\u2013Viersen, the Bad Bentheim\/Oldenzaal border crossing and Bremen\u2013Oldenburg\u2013Groningen\u2013Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

Around 45,000 freight trains cross the Dutch-German border every year (at Zevenaar, Venlo and Bad Bentheim), making it one of the busiest border crossings in Europe for rail freight, according to the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Moreover, both countries want to work together on the implementation of ERTMS and make it easier to run 740-metre trains. This would also benefit military mobility, as such long trains are often necessary to move tanks, the ministry explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Illustrative image. DB Cargo between Emmerich and Oberhausen. Image: \u00a9 Deutsche Bahn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The umpteenth round<\/h2>\n

The Dutch rail freight association RailGood remains sceptical. \u201cWonderful news. But what will actually be done differently, in a results-oriented way, in this new round, the umpteenth since the Treaty of Warnem\u00fcnde in 1992?\u201d, RailGood Director Hans-Willem Vroon comments to RailFreight.com. By signing that treaty, the Dutch and German governments committed to expanding rail infrastructure. The Netherlands agreed to build new branches of the Betuwe Line to two border crossings. Germany committed to building the (now notorious) Third Track.<\/p>\n

Vroon also wonders what the existing cooperation process, launched in 2019, has really contributed to competitive and profitable rail freight between the two countries. \u201cI cannot think of anything\u201d, he said. The dossier has been running for almost 35 years. Around 2010 the two countries lost their connection and the focus on achieving results, according to Vroon.<\/p>\n

\n

A long wish list<\/h2>\n

RailGood listed a range of issues on which it wants to see concrete progress:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Routes for 740-metre trains<\/strong>. The Rotterdam\u2013Mannheim connection was once served by 740-metre container trains, but nothing was done to preserve this.<\/li>\n
  • Cooperation on ERTMS<\/strong> on Dutch-German routes, a joint approach to replacing GSM-R with FRMCS in the mid-2030s, and an EU-wide freeze of ERTMS versions and baselines for 15 years, pushed by the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.<\/li>\n
  • A level playing field on infrastructure charges<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • International traffic flow management<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • Sufficient capacity<\/strong> at the three main border crossings (Emmerich, Venlo and Bad Bentheim). The Dutch draft railway regulation currently in consultation frustrates this, according to RailGood.<\/li>\n
  • An interoperable, upgraded Kaldenkirchen border\u2013Viersen\u2013Odenkirchen Rheydt line<\/strong>, including double track between Kaldenkirchen and D\u00fclken and ERTMS (project number 2-025-V01).<\/li>\n
  • English as an operating language<\/strong> alongside the native language in cross-border train services.<\/li>\n
  • Agreements to minimise disruption<\/strong> to customers<\/strong> from engineering works.<\/li>\n
  • Opening the Bad Nieuweschans\u2013Weener border crossing to freight trains<\/strong> and military transport.<\/li>\n
  • Lifting ProRail\u2019s 569-metre train length limit at Chemelot<\/strong> (including its intermodal terminal) on the route via the Haanrade border crossing.<\/li>\n
  • A single wayside train monitoring system<\/strong> for the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with harmonised processes and standards.<\/li>\n
  • A joint Dutch-German deregulation<\/strong> agenda.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

    \nVroon considers Dutch-German rail-related contact positive. \u201cNice thoughts and words don\u2019t fill freight trains\u201d, he adds however, pointing to the long convoys of trucks between the two countries. Some 90% of Dutch rail freight crosses the Dutch-German border, according to RailGood. Rail capacity is exhausted, both networks face huge maintenance and modernisation challenges, and incidents block the lines too often in both countries, Vroon adds.<\/p>\n

    Within that context, the Netherlands is working on a new law governing the railways. It should modernise existing legislation in order to future-proof rail governance. This could have been an opportunity to improve rail freight’s position on the network, but alas. The public internet consultation reveals no change in the long-standing Dutch approach. It retains a low number of train paths for freight to Germany and a low prioritisation for freight traffic when capacity is scarce.<\/p>\n

    Road traffic, in contrast with rail, can operate on the shortest possible routes and is not excluded from infrastructure during high-traffic (rush hour) periods, adds Vroon. This hinders rail’s competitiveness compared with trucks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Netherlands and Germany have signed a joint declaration to collaborate more intensively on rail issues, including freight and military mobility. The Dutch rail freight\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4388,6974,82,393,471,336,2735,78,47,1769],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-598934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-betuwe-line","category-db-infrago","category-germany","category-netherlands","category-news","category-policy","category-prorail","category-rail-freight","category-rail-news","category-the-netherlands","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t