A multi-billion dollar project to expand high-speed rail service between Amsterdam and Brussels has been derailed by malfunctioning trains, costing the head of the Dutch national rail company his job and threatening an international imbroglio.
Only a month after it began operations late last year, the Netherlands had to suspend its Fyra high-speed service due to a raft of technical problems with V250 trains bought from an Italian company - AnsaldoBreda. Now, after months of trying to fix the problematic trains, the Dutch have ditched them, and are asking for their money back.
"The failure of the Fyra high-speed line has led to threats of legal action between the railway company and the manufacturer, and the dispute could drag in the Dutch, Belgian and Italian governments," report Matt Steinglass and Giulia Segreti in The Financial Times. "The cancellation of the Fyra order calls into question what the Dutch plan to do with their HSL-Zuid high-speed line, built by the state from 2000-09 at a cost of €6.4bn," they add.
While finding another manufacturer to provide new trains is one option, it could take years to complete the process.
Thanks to Daniel Lippman
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