Rail in Netherlands not prepared for extreme winter

Photo (Felix Kalkman / NS): Winter travel

Already last winter, heavy weather conditions disrupted rail services in the Netherlands and beyond. While the situation was not quite as dramatic as the catastrophe of the recent floods, at national infrastructure operator Prorail the situation triggered research about general resilience of the rail network under winter conditions. The report is now available here (external link).

As a result, Prorail will improve internal and external communication and will better align individual measures with the plans of the forwarders. A main concern will be the operation of switches in heavy snow. Last winter, switch failure has caused much of the delay in passenger and freight transport.

Closer cooperation between Antwerp and Liège

Port managers to cooperate side by side

The ports of Antwerp and Liège have signed an agreement on intensifying their cooperation. Liège, itself one of the largest inland ports in Europe, is in an ideal location to serve as a hinterland hub for Antwerp. The cooperation will strengthen the rail and waterway services between both ports. Read the details here (external link).

Port congestion around the world

Photo: Kees Torn

On 29 July, the container ship Ever Given arrived at Rotterdam with a delay of about four months after it had been stuck in the Suez Canal for several days in late March. Read the news here (external link). All containers for the continent were unloaded. The ship has since continued for the British port of Felixstowe, where it will discharge the remaining containers.

While the Ever Given has become a symbol of transport disruption, there currently are more problems around the world, which affect the logistics chains: Restricted port operation in China due to Covid-19. Changes in demand patterns causing lack of empty containers, while containers are piling up elsewhere. Even the fires in the American West contributed by temporarily closing a main container rail link. The international shipping lines have responded to resulting longer handling times in ports by minimizing the number of port calls per route, handling as many containers as possible per stop.