News
Fyra crisis deepens as NS and SNCB cance T
Quintus Vosman Regional editor
HE SAGA surrounding Fyra cross-border services between the Netherlands and Belgium has taken another twist after both Netherlands Railways (NS) and Belgian National Railways (SNCB), cancelled their orders for V250 high-speed trains with AnsaldoBreda.
SNCB announced on May 31 that it would terminate its contract for three trains, and on June 7 NS revealed that it intended to cancel its order for 16 V250s.
In a statement issued on May 31, SNCB said: “The design of the V250 train has fundamental shortcomings with potentially serious effects with regards to both safety and reliability. Also the quality management of the construction of the train is inadequate. Under these circumstances, SNCB can only respond by cancelling its order for the V250 sets.” SNCB CEO Mr Marc Descheemaeker presented a long list of faults, including safety-related issues such as overheating battery packs, loose roof-mounted components, and corrosion on wheelsets and bogies. SNCB says it is no longer confident that the problems it has identified will be resolved, or that the trains will meet the required standards. SNCB and NS jointly
appointed Mott MacDonald to carry out a report into the
NS appoints new CEO N
S has appointed Dr Timo Huges (top) as CEO following Mr Bert Meerstadt’s (below) decision to step down on October 1 after 12 years in the role. Huges is currently chairman of Royal FloraHolland, a horticultural growers’ cooperative, a position he has held since 2008. Referring to the Fyra crisis, Meerstadt says he wants to devote his remaining time to “finding a good transport solution between the Netherlands and Belgium on the high- speed line as agreed with the secretary of state. I see this as an important task that I want to finish.”
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commissioning of the fleet. This report suggests that solving fundamental problems will require considerable additional investment and could take between 17 months and two years to rectify. SNCB has also
commissioned another consultancy, Concept Risk, France, to scrutinise the technical liability of the V250. Concept Risk expressed serious doubts about the design and construction of the train, including maintenance costs and the performance of the braking system. Furthermore, SNCB is concerned about the financial position of AnsaldoBreda’s parent company Finmeccanica, which it argues could have long-term implications for the supply of spare parts for the fleet.
SNCB therefore decided to cancel its order and revoke the bank guarantees on the preliminary payments, which are worth ƒ37m. It is also preparing a legal claim for damages from AnsaldoBreda. The Dutch government, which is the sole shareholder in NS, says it is convinced the train does not meet operational requirements. Infrastructure minister Mrs Wilma Mansveld stated that the government has every reason to support the conclusions and decisions of both NS and SNCB. According to Mansveld, NS
has already paid AnsaldoBreda ƒ120m but it is unclear whether it will be possible to
fully recover this sum. Meanwhile questions are being asked about why the organisations involved in the process of granting the ‘Declaration of EC conformity’ and ‘Authorisation to Place in Service’ (article 22 and 23, European Directive 2008/57/EC concerning Interoperability) were sufficiently satisfied with the V250 to approve the trains for public use. There is likely to be further scrutiny in the coming months of the roles played in this process by the national safety authority, the Dutch Environmental and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) and the notified body, Lloyds Register Rail.
The Netherlands was the first country to approve the V250 for commercial operation, completing certification on July 6 2012, three months before the trains were approved for use in Belgium. AnsaldoBreda states
that the train has the necessary safety case required for public service because the
Declaration of EU conformity and the Authorisation to Place in Service have been granted. AnsaldoBreda has already indicated it will take legal action against SNCB and is also preparing a claim against NS. At a press conference in Naples on June 6, AnsaldoBreda CEO Mr Maurizio Manfellotto stressed that the train is safe and has been certified and verified by all relevant authorities. “A high-speed project is not just about the train, it includes the rail infrastructure, signalling, and safety systems,” he says. “To design a high-speed line properly it is necessary to adopt a systems integration approach, which governs all the phases of the contract, from the train design, to its technical approval and commercial use. The
IRJ July 2013
Photo: Quintus Vosman
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