Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail promises improvements at port yards

“ProRail is working hard on improvements in the Rotterdam port area,” the company says in its own report. Last week, the railway manager received a warning from the environmental protection service Rijnmond DCMR. According to the DCMR, there is no other company in the region that fails to comply with the permit requirements on such a structural basis. “We now want to have safety more in order,” said a ProRail spokesperson.

‘We now pay more attention internally to the port and the railway yards. We have now set up a manager who pays full attention to this. It is a huge area and agreements must therefore be made properly,” says Raymond de Jong, spokesperson at ProRail.

There have been problems at the yards around the port of Rotterdam for some time. In the first half of 2024, DCMR has already imposed a penalty payment on ProRail five times for violations. This includes poor maintenance, fire extinguishing facilities that are not easily accessible and defective lighting at the Rotterdam railway yards.

However, according to De Jong, the promised improvements have been planned for some time. ‘We regularly report on our activities, the program has of course been running for five years. So it is good to make the evaluation public,” he adds.

ProRail improvement program extended

According to its own reports, ProRail has upped its infrastructure rehabilitation actions for the next two years. “During this period, more expertise will be attracted and it will be focused on inspections at the port yards,” says ProRail. ‘Better packages have now been put together for the inspections, so that we can plan them better. We have tightened our procedures,” said De Jong. In addition, the infrastructure manager has invested in automation and digitalisation to support this.

According to De Jong, the higher goal is to ensure safety at the railway yards. “We have already partly addressed the fire extinguishing facilities, but that is not yet in order. That is why we are extending the program,” De Jong explains. “We want to take on a more managing role.”

A long-time promise

Research agency Crisislab published a research report in 2020 with strong conclusions about the maintenance of the port railway and ProRail’s related policy. The infrastructure manager promised improvements and started the ‘Infrastructure in Order’ improvement program. According to the program, 92 switches, 78 level crossings and approximately 20 kilometers of track would be improved. In addition, permanent fire extinguishing facilities had to be installed at five port yards in Rotterdam. It is something that already had to be in order by the end of last year.

This article was originally published by our sister publication Nieuwsblad Transport.