De integratie van de HSL-Zuid in het Hoofdrailnet voor de concessie 2015-2024

Abstract

This report contains a research on the subject ¡¥The integration of the High-Speed-Line South in the main rail network of the Netherlands for the 2015-2024 concession. Because of the bad financial situation of the train operator (High Speed Alliance, executed by NS Hispeed), the Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment was forced to find a solution for train operation on the HSL-South. After a research of the alternatives, the solution was incorporated in the Government Agreement for the new Rutte-Asscher government (2012). The solution was that the HSL-South will be combined with the concession for the main Dutch rail network for the period 2015-2024. In this report the chances of the integration and the impact for society have been researched. To this end the following research goal has been formulated: "h Research the possibilities to integrate the High-Speed-Line South into the main rail network and design one or more plans for the period 2015-2024 to utilize the integration to maximize (societal) profits". To reach this goal a design cycle (Roozenburg & Eekels, 1995) was used to design multiple networks and evaluate those afterwards. The design cycle started with analyzing the design environment which resulted in knowledge of the design freedoms and the criteria that are used to evaluate the designs. As a second step three different alternatives for the end stage have been designed (2024). This was done by constructing train product philosophies for the entire network, based on different forms of high speed line operations in other countries, and applying them to the Dutch situation. This train product philosophies have been improved by applying separate design elements, that have been found in the Analysis. The conclusions about the specific design elements are also applicable for short term timetable-design. The resulting alternatives have been simulated to evaluate them based on the criteria that have been found and to compare them with the assumed situation in 2024: 'Programma Hoogfrequent Spoorvervoer'. For designing the alternatives the model ‘Design Of Network Schedules’ (DONS) was used. This is a model that can be used to design line networks and timetables (basic hourly patterns) with the ability to make big changes easily. After designing the alternatives they have been simulated in ‘Toedelen van Reizigers aan NetwerkSystemen’ (TRANS), meaning: allocation of travelers to network schedules. This is done to simulate the effect on current rail travelers. To be able to estimate the growth potential of the alternatives (and with it, the financial feasibility) price and travel time elasticities have been used. The three designed alternatives are: Premium, Hybrid and Intercity. These have been compared to the Basic alternative. This basic alternative is based on PHS-3A. This is the joint future vision from NS and ProRail on Dutch timetables in 2020.