€112 mil to Stop Trains at Red Lights

Over the course of the next few years all signals along the railways will be upgraded with an improved safety system, to make it impossible for train drivers to miss them, writes State Secretary Mansveld in a letter to the House. Only the sections that are scheduled to be equipped with the European ERTMS in the near future, will not be upgraded.Currently 2,800 of the signals are still equipped with the standard ATB-safety. 2,500 signals have already been equipped with the improved version, the ATB-vv. The standard ATB system halts trains when they run a red light with a speed greater than 40km/h. The new system also automatically halts trains that pass a red light on low speed. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"26830","attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-11493","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"225","height":"300","alt":"Sein_NL"}}]] Sein_NL
Lennart Bolks,
nl.wikipedia ProRails advised the State Secretary to equip all the signals with the ATB-vv for the time being, starting 2015, until the introduction of the new European system, the ERTMS, is complete. The estimated cost is about 112 million euros. Mansveld adopted the advice. The new security system should prevent train accidents, such as the accident last year April in Amsterdam, from happening. That accident, where a train ran a red light, cost a life. vv system will slowly be replaced by the European ERTMS. With this system trains can travel 200 kilometers per hour, that is if the trains are suitable for the speed. It also makes it possible for trains to ride in closer succession or new sections. The government has earmarked 2 billion euros for the introduction of ERTMS. In some parts of the Dutch railways, such as the new Hanzelijn, ERTMS is already applied.