Since 5 February, freight trains hauled by multi-system electric locomotives can cross the border between Germany and the Netherlands at yet another point. The border crossing Haanrade – Herzogenrath was upgraded with the German security system PZB/Indusi, which allows for a wider range of electric haulage.

To be precise, the upgrade was carried out on the section Eygelshoven-Herzogenrath by the Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail. This is expected to lead to an increase in the use of this relatively small border crossing.

Advantage for DB Cargo

The upgrade is a great advantage for DB Cargo, which was one of the parties involved in the project. “Since the spring of 2022, German and Dutch colleagues from DB Cargo have been working to create the right conditions to enable traffic through the new border crossing for DB Cargo. Guidelines, IT systems and processes had to be adapted before the first regular train could run successfully”, the operator writes.

Now that all this is in place, the first regular train has already made its first journey. Since February, DB Cargo runs a regular train every week on the route from Stolberg (near Aachen) to Vlissingen via the new border crossing, and more trains will follow.

Relatively unknown border crossing

The broder crossing Haanrade – Herzogenrath is the least used border point for rail freight traffic between Germany and the Netherlands, most border crossings are more towards the north, where the catchment area is much larger. In 2021, only 450 freight trains crossed the border here, compared to 23,600 at Emmerich-Zevenaar, 14.950 at Venlo-Kaldenkichen and 7.600 at Oldenzaal-Bentheim.

Yet, it is a border point with a high percentage growth. In 2019, there were only 50 freight trains crossing the border at the southern point of the Netherlands. Traffic via this route has become more regular in 2021, writes ProRail in its annual report of 2021, largely because the container shuttle to and from Chemelot in the Netherlands was redirected here.

DB Cargo expects the border point to play a role as a good alternative when traffic on other routes needs to be redirected, for example on the Emmerich – Oberhausen line. Here, the Third Track is being constructed, which will lead to several temporary capacity restrictions over the years to come.