Pier Eringa

ProRail wants to run automated light rail trains between Schiphol and Amsterdam with extreme high frequencies - 30 times per hour. To achieve that, railways need to be cleared for this type of train. ProRail director Pier Eringa believes that these automated trains, which he compares to a city rail line like the S-Bahn in Berlin, will be needed to accommodate the increase in passengers between the Netherlands' capital and its main airport, Het Parool reports.

ProRail closed the unguarded railway crossing in Geleen, Limburg, due to a number of recent near-miss incidents at the crossing. Last week the rail manager posted a video of one such near miss at this crossing online, as part of a campaign to warn against the dangers of level crossings. The video went viral, NOS reports.

On Sunday ProRail posted another near-miss video of this same crossing. Like the first video, this video shows a cyclist very nearly being hit by a train.

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure and Water Management is not impressed by ProRail CEO Pier Eringa's intention to start blocking off unguarded railway crossings at his own initiative. "It is now a tradition for Mr. Eringa to show up with all kinds of plans in the media in the run-up to a parliamentary debate about railways", she said, NOS reports.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, will discuss the railways on Thursday. 

Multiple childcare organizations stopped using their Stint cargo bikes to transport kids following a fatal railway accident involving such a vehicle in Oss on Thursday morning. Four children between the ages of 4 and 8 were killed. An 11-year-old girl and a 32-year-old woman were seriously injured. The injured child and two of the other victims were sisters, according to the police.

The number of victims of accidents at rail crossings in the Netherlands is unacceptably high and must and can be reduced, the Dutch Safety Board said in a report on three serious rail accidents in Winsum, Harlingen and Wouw in 2016 and 2017, NOS reports.

Train travelers can expect significant delays during the summer holidays as ProRail is using this time to do extra maintenance on the rails. Some 7 thousand ProRail employees and contractors will carry out maintenance in 40 places in the coming period. "Travelers will have a lot of inconvenience, but unfortunately that can't be helped", ProRail CEO Pier Eringa said, according to RTL Nieuws.

Along with a few small train stations in Zeeland, the NS station at Schiphol is on the bottom of the list of reliable train stations in the Netherlands, according to a ranking compiled by RTL Nieuws and the website Vertraagd.com. One in eight trains to and from Schiphol station are delayed, and 1 in 25 never even reach their destination. 

Changing ProrRail's independent position as track manager would be a terrible idea, ProRail CEO Pier Eringa said in Parliament on Wednesday. The parliamentarians are considering ProRail's position as part of the response to the Fyra debacle

ProRail CEO Pier Eringa wants to investigate whether it is possible to have trains continue their routes after a fire due to a burning smell. According to him, a burning smell should not be enough to close down the Schiphol tunnel.