The launch of maintenance works at the Dutch Kijfhoek classification yard scheduled for last week, from 1 to 4 August, was delayed for an unknown time. ProRail, the Dutch rail infrastructure manager, and contractor Swietelsky decided to do this in order not to suspend train traffic at the largest yard in the Netherlands.

The maintenance works should be performed between this August and April 2020. Swietelsky is obliged to renew 16 railway switches, replace 1 kilometre of tracks, provide maintenance on 39 overhead line portals and adjust a level crossing. “Shortly before the start of the work, a conflict was found between the impact of the works at Kijfhoek and the scheduled freight transport. Because of this, they could not be executed simultaneously,” ProRail explained in an official statement. Accordingly, the Dutch rail infrastructure manager is looking for a new solution.

Kijfhoek yard

Kijfhoek classification yard is located between Rotterdam and Dordrecht. It has an area of 50 hectares, includes 43 tracks, 14 arrival tracks and 12 stabling tracks. The Kijfhoek yard is the largest in the Netherlands with a capacity for handling 4,000 wagons per day. The facility serves around 600-700 wagons a day. In 2017 ProRail started to upgrade the rail infrastructure of the yard.