User:Cinoreros/Amsterdam-Brussels Intercity

The Amsterdam-Brussels Intercity train, also known as the Benelux train is an international train service between Belgium and the Netherlands, operated between September 29, 1957 and December 9, 2012, and again from February 13, 2013. The service connects the Belgian capital Brussels with the Dutch capital Amsterdam, stopping at several cities including Antwerp, Rotterdam and Den Haag, as well as the international airports of Schiphol and Zaventem, in between. The intercity service is jointly operated by Dutch national railway company NS and it Belgian counterpart the NMBS/SNCB. The train falls under the regular railway tarif in both countries, and no reservation is required.

Name
The name Benelux train stems from the original intent to extend the line to the city of Luxemburg. The extension was never realized, partly because the engine power required to cope with the gradient slopes in the Ardennes could not be delivered by the locomotives used at the time.

1930s
Althoug the Benelux train would only begin operations in 1957, the first negotiations about the creation of the line had started even before the beginning of the Second World War. In March 1939, there are negotiations about the electrification of the rail line Antwerp-Dordrecht. At that moment, there are already 18 international trains running each day between the 2 countries, including 6 commuter trains. With the electrification of the line, the railway operators try to increase that number. Eventually, 3 scenarios for an international electric connection are put on the table:


 * 7 international trains Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris Nord, with electrical traction between Amsterdam and Brussels. Additionally, also an hourly service between Brussels and Amsterdam using 3 Mat '40 units would be installed, reinforced with 2 extra units between Antwerp and Brussels.
 * A variant where the whole itinerary would be driven by 5 units.
 * A variant where a combination of a locomotive and carriages would be used instead of the Mat '40 units.

Eventually, the negotiations were suspended because of the technical differences that had to be overcome between the 2 countries, such as the different voltage used for powering the trains (1500/3000V). Because of the outbreak of the Second World War, the electrification of the track between Antwerp and Dordrecht would have to wait until 1957.

Mat '57 "Dog head" units
The new train service between Amsterdam and Brussels was eventually started in 1957 using 12 Mat '57 train units, a specially designed version of the Dutch Mat '54 units that was compatible with both the Dutch 1500V and Belgian 3000V voltage used. From the 12 units, 8 were owned by the NS, and 4 by the NMBS/SNCB. The trains had a dark blue livery with a yellow ribbon under the windows.

One of the reasons for using train units (at the time still unusual for international connections) instead of the locomotive-carriage combination, was that it facilitated reversing the trains at their terminals in Brussels and Amsterdam, and additionally at Antwerp-Central, reducing the travel time significantly. Until 1970, the trains were coupled between Antwerp and Roosendaal with the Antwerp-Vlissingen express train, which used compatible Mat '54 units. At first, an hourly connection between Antwerp and Amsterdam was maintained, while 1 out of 2 trains would then proceed to Brussels. Later, an hourly schedule was used for the entire line. In the Netherlands, the train was classified as a regular express train, and could from the beginning be used for domestic travel. In Belgium, the train was first given a special classification, but was also opened for domestic traffic after the IC/IR reform in 1984.

Capacity shortage
Initially most serviced could be operated by singe 2 wagon train units, but during the 1960s a shortage in capacity started to emerge. Most trains were composed of 2 or 3 coupled units. To resolve the issue, idea was launched to build six additional train units for international service, based on the Dutch NS Mat '64 model. However, these were never built. As a temporary solution, it was decided to allocate several locomotive-hauled trains to the Amsterdam-Brussels line. They came into service for the first time in 1968, when 2 hauled trains were employed in regular service. The trains disappeared the next year, but soon a hauled train with Belgian carriages returned. In 1969 the train was run with a combination of Dutch and Belgian carriages, in varying compositions. Eventually there were five combinations of carriages around, signaling the beginning of the transition to hauled trains.

Push-pull operation
At the start of the 1970s, it became clear that the increase in passenger numbers on the Benelux service was a structural matter. Both railway companies involved were actively in search of a permanent solution to the capacity problem. The main downside to the use of hauled trains was that, upon arriving at the Antwerp-Central terminal station, the locomotive had to be detached from the train, and subsequently reattached to its other end to allow the train to reverse itself. This process was time consuming and took up a lot of space in the station.

Begin jaren 70 werd duidelijk dat de groei van de Beneluxtreindienst structureel bleef. Er werd door beide spoorwegbedrijven gezocht naar een permanente oplossing. De getrokken treinen hadden als nadeel in de exploitatie dat de locomotieven dienden om te lopen, hetgeen veel tijd kostte en ruimte innam op de stations.

De Belgische en Nederlandse spoorwegen kwamen uiteindelijk tot de inzet van zogenaamde trek-duwtreinen. Deze bestonden uit een NMBS-locomotief uit de 25.5-serie, rijtuigen I4 en Plan W en een tot stuurstandrijtuig verbouwd restauratierijtuig Plan D. Deze locomotieven en rijtuigen kregen dezelfde kleurstelling als de Benelux-hondekoppen. In eerste instantie werden de Belgische eerste klasse rijtuigen zo dicht mogelijk bij de restauratie geplaatst, maar dat bleek later lastig tijdens het plegen van onderhoud.[6]