Prorail

ProRail () is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure (not the metro or tram), the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part of NS Railinfratrust, the Dutch railway infrastructure owner.
It consists of the following infrastructure management organisations:
*''Railinfrabeheer'' (Rail Infrastructure Management, RIB)
*''Railned'' (railway capacity allocation - long-term planning, more than 52 hours before the day of the train service)
*''Railverkeersleiding'' (traffic control - short-term planning, less than 52 hours before the day of the train service)

The rail capacity supplied by ProRail is used by several public transport operators:
* Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the passenger train operating company on main lines
* Smaller passenger operators, including Qbuzz, Arriva and Connexxion/Breng
* DB Regionalbahn Westfalen, which mainly operates in Germany
* Cargo operators including DB Cargo, Rotterdam Rail Feeding, and Lineas
* Smaller freight operators, including: Rail4Chem (now owned by Veolia), Veolia Cargo, ERS Railways, Bentheimer Eisenbahn, HGK, Portfeeders (part of ACTS) and SNCF Fret

Its Utrecht headquarters is in the former offices of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (known as ''De Inktpot'', "The Inkwell"), the largest brick building in the Netherlands. The building currently features a "UFO" on its facade resulting from an art program in 2000. It was established on 1 January 2003 when three separate organisations responsible for rail infrastructure in the Netherlands were merged.

Funding

Funding for ProRail is provided by a government subsidy, and a fee paid by the railway operators (called ''infraheffing'').
The government subsidy totalled around €2.5 billion from 2014–2017, and the ''infraheffing'' totalled approx. €200 million in 2006, the remaining income was listed as 'other'.
The fee that the public transport operators have to pay for this is lower than the cost, but increasing. In 2003 it was €0.64 per train km and €0.54 to €2.16 for stopping at a station.

Performance oriented maintenance

Railways in the Netherlands are not maintained by ProRail itself. Instead, it is subcontracted to recognised maintenance contractors. The Dutch railway network is subdivided into 21 areas. For each area, all of the regular maintenance is contracted as one package, which is won by the contractor that submits the best offer. The contractor receives a fixed sum per month, and is fined in case of failure to meet the required performance. Contractors are incentivised to minimise cost, while ensuring good performance of the assets. This is called prestatiegericht onderhoud (performance oriented maintenance).

As of 2019, the recognised maintenance contractors are:
* ASSET Rail (a joint venture by Arcadis and Dura Vermeer)
* BAM Infra Rail
* Strukton Rail
* VolkerRail

See also

* Transportation in the Netherlands

References

External links

Nederlandse SpoorwegenNetwork statement 2003
(pdf-file, 646 kB)
ProRail

{{Authority control

Railway infrastructure managers
Railway companies of the Netherlands
Rail infrastructure in the Netherlands
Railway companies established in 2003
Dutch companies established in 2003
Organisations based in Utrecht (city)
Rail transport in Utrecht (city)
Companies based in Utrecht (province)