Havenspoorlijn

Havenspoorlijn (Rotterdam Harbour Railway)

The Rotterdam Harbour Railway is a freight railway line of over 40 km long between the IJsselmonde / Kijfhoek and Maasvlakte yards , including the connected yards and sidings.

The Havenspoorlijn is included in the Betuweroute, the freight railway from the Maasvlakte to the German border near Zevenaar.

The Harbour Railway includes the following freight stations and yards:

• Feyenoord (originally: Fijenoord)
• IJsselmonde (originally: IJselmonde)

Waalhaven South with the connections:

• Waalhaven East
• Waalhaven West
• Container terminal RSC Waalhaven

Pernis with the connections:

Interforest
Distribution park
Shell
Family line Pernis west

Botlek (including terminals 10 to 80)
Europoort (including connections)
Europoort West (including Markweg main line )

Maasvlakte (empl. east/old and west) with the connections:

EMO
Container terminal ECT Eastern Rail Terminal (ORT)
Container terminal ECT Rail Terminal West (RTW)
Euromaxx container terminal, at the Yangtzehaven (from mid-2008)

The Port Railway Line includes the Botlek Bridge, Caland Bridge, Dintelhaven Railway Bridge and Suurhoff Bridge. In contrast to the rest of the country, shipping has priority here.

The points and signals of the entire Havenspoorlijn are controlled from the ProRail traffic control post, which is located in Kijfhoek.

The "grey" lines on the map (near Rotterdam and almost at the end of the Maasvlakte) no longer exist.

Havenspoorlijn History

In 1891, the Sluisjesdijk was connected via the Breede Hilledijk on Katendrecht to the Fijenoord station, which came into service in 1878. Due to the construction of the Maashaven, the railway line was diverted to the Putschelaan-Brielselaan-Doklaan in 1901. In 1910, a connection was made to the IJselmonde marshalling yard. Two years later, the railway line was extended via the Waalhaven (north of the airport ) to Heijplaat (Waalhaven West). In 1922, the Waalhaven Oost-Heijplaat section was diverted to enlarge the Waalhaven.

In 1928, the IJsselmonde-Waalhaven section of the line was constructed because the connection via Brielselaan had become overloaded. In 1959, Waalhaven Zuid station was constructed at its current location and in 1963 the old station (directly south of Waalhaven) was closed. In 1974, the Waalhaven Oost-Brielselaan-IJsselmonde connection was closed.

In 1935 the railway line was extended via Pernis to Vondelingenplaat , in 1959 the eastern part of the railway line was diverted to the new Waalhaven Zuid station.

In 1957, the railway line was extended from Vondelingenplaat (Shell) to Botlek, in 1964 to Europoort (Gulf), in 1964 to Europoort West (RWS/BP) and finally in 1977 to Maasvlakte (EMO). Since the construction of the Kijfhoek marshalling yard in 1978, most trains run to/from Kijfhoek instead of IJsselmonde.

In connection with the construction of the Betuweroute , the section from the Waalhaven yard to Barendrecht was replaced by the Rerouted Harbour Railway (2004) and parallel to it the Short-circuit Route (2006). With this relocation, the route was then electrified in its entirety, so that electric trains can now serve the harbour railway line in its entirety.

Since 2017, the Theemswegtracé has been constructed, a four-kilometre-long raised concrete viaduct incorporating two steel railway bridges over the Rozenburgsesluis and the Thomassentunnel. This means that trains no longer have to cross the Calandbrug , which has to be opened regularly. Shipping has priority there. The Theemswegtracé will open in 2021, the original route will be dismantled and the tracks on the Calandbrug will be removed. The new route is half a kilometre shorter than the old one.

Havenspoorlijn Overview (Rotterdam Port Railway Line)

Havenspoorlijn Route: Kijfhoek - Maasvlakte
Havenspoorlijn Total Length: 40.7 km
Havenspoorlijn Track Gauge: standard gauge 1435 mm
Havenspoorlijn Created By: Dutch Railways
Havenspoorlijn Opened: 1910
Havenspoorlijn Closed: 1928
Havenspoorlijn Current Status:
Fijenoord - Waalhaven: broken up
IJsselmonde - Waalhaven: broken up
Barendrecht - Maasvlakte: in use
Havenspoorlijn Electrified: 2006 (25kV)
Havenspoorlijn Number of Tracks: 2
Havenspoorlijn Security or Train Control: ERTMS
Havenspoorlijn Bounding Profile: OPS-GC
Havenspoorlijn Loading Class:
D4 (at 80 km/h)
D4 (at 100 km/h) in Botlek railway tunnel