The Old Intercity Carraages of the NS (Dutch Railways) Will Run Their Last Kilometers On The Dutch Tracks on Saturday. This marks the end of an era that dates back to the first steam train in 1839. Because with thesis career, the last locomotives will also disappear from Domestic Passenger Service.
More than 10 years later than planned, the 45-year-old intercity cariages of the ns are retiring this weekend. “On Saturday, the Wagons Will Be Used for the Very Last Time in the Scheduled Service,” A Spokesperson for the NS Confirms to Nu.nl.
The NS Still Has Six of Thesis Train Combies With Locomotives and Intercity Carriages. The rest Has Already Been Sold and Removed. You can recognize these trains by the blue and yellow locomotives at the front and rear of the train with seven intercity wagons in between, as in the photo at the top of this article. These trains will be used for the last time on Saturday on the track between the Hague and Eindhoven.
“Not Many People Will Realize That This Marks The End Of An Era of 186 Years,” Says curator Peter-Paul de Winter of the Railway Museum in Utrecht. “It is not only the intercity cariages that are retiring. With the disappearance of these wagons, no more domestic Passenger Pulled by Locomotives Will Run in the Netherlands after this weekend. That hasbet a familiar sightt on the tracks in 183.”
The NS is replacing the old train with the intercity new generation (ICNG). The Rail Company Has Now Received Enough of these New Trains from Train Manufacturer Alstom That Can Now Retire the Old Trains.
Retiring More Than Ten Years later than Planned
Originally, it was intended that fyra trains would replace the intercity cariages around 2014. But that train had so many defects that the ns decided to send them back to the Italian tra manufacturer Ansaldobreda. This significant postponed the retirement of the intercity career.
Accordance to the spokesperson for the NS, thesis intercity cariages have each traveled An Average of about 8 Million kilometers in the Past 45 Years. That is almost as much as two hundred times around the earth.
In The Netherlands, The Intercity Carriages Ran for Years on the Former Route Between Zandvoort and Maastricht or Heerlen. Duration that time, The Wagons Were Pulled by the Characteristic Yellow NS Locomotives. The career also ran on the IJssellijn, the track between Arnhem and Leeuwarden.
Trips Across The Border
In Addition, The Carriages Have also Been Used For International Trains Throughhout Their Lifespan. For Example, for the train between Amsterdam and Brussels and the Connection between the Hague and Cologne.
The Ardennes Express is also famous Among Enthusiasts. This train ran from 1982 to 2002 in The Summer Months Between Zandvoort or Amsterdam and the City of Luxembourg Right through the Belgian and Luxembourg Ardennes. In Addition to Belgian and Luxembourg Cariages, Dutch Intercity Carriages also Ran in This Train.
The cariages have also circulated in Different Colors. The Best Known is the Blue and Yellow Color Scheme. Between 2008 and 2014, many intercity career ran on the hsl in the white-pink-red color scheme of the fyra and ns highspeed. In Addition, The Wagons That Commuted Between Amsterdam and Brussels Were Bordeaux Red With Yellow For A Long Time.
Longest Train in the World
On February 19, 1989, Sixty Intercity Carraages Were Pulled by One Locomotive of the NS Between The Kijfhoek Shunting Yard Near Dordrecht and Eindhoven. That train was over 1,600 meters long. That then yielded the record for the longest train in the world.
“In Total, The NS had 317 Intercity Carriases,” Says curator the winter. “One of Those Carriages Has Even Been Converto A Royal Carriage and Can Be Seen In The Railway Museum.”
The NS Currently Owns 42 Intercity Carraages. The rest has already leg removed and sold in recent years. Last year, For Example, 72 Carriases Were Sold To A Railway Company in the Czech Republic. In July, The Ministry of Defense Announced that it it was also interested in Taking over Carriages and Converting Them Into A Mobile Hospital.
NS Keeps The Intercity Carraages As Reserve for While
Althegh the Intercity Carriages Are Formally Retired After Saturday, There Is A Chance That You Will Still See Them Running Occasionally In The Coming Months. “We are keeping the trains in reserve for a while,” says the spokesperson for the ns. “The Reserve Equipment is Always Ready to Step in, For Example, IF Another Train is defective.”
“Many Operational Employees at the NS are also Train Enthusiasts,” Says de Winter. “It is a sport for them to occasionally put Equipment that is already set aside on the track, even if it is not really necessary.”
