HIMA and Movares modernise train control system at Rotterdam Central Station

The HIMA Group has signed a contract with Movares, a consultancy and engineering company, specialised in infrastructure and rail projects, to implement a state-of-the-art electronic interlocking system in the Rotterdam area. The project includes the PLC hardware, cabinets and engineering to replace the existing electronic interlocking (EBS) by a programmable interlocking system (IXL). This not only increases safety, but also increases availability and  flexibility while significantly reducing life cycle costs. The HIMA IXL technology is to be used in a total of ten relay houses in Rotterdam and will also increase the safety of the surrounding railway stations.

"The order is another milestone for the HIMA Group and demonstrates the potential of our proven PLC interlocking solution," explains Jörg de la Motte, CEO of the HIMA Group. "We are delighted to be continuing our two decades of successful collaboration with Movares in this forward-looking project," said Jörg de la Motte at the signing of the contract in the presence of the project team on 10 April in Utrecht.

"This project is not just about upgrading the technology, but also about improving the safety and reliability of train operations in one of the busiest railway stations in Europe," says Robert Claasen, CEO of Movares. The modernisation project aims to further increase the efficiency and safety of the Rotterdam Centraal transport hub. The technology, which uses Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware based on the HIMax safety system, is already in use in the Netherlands e.g., in Amersfoort, Beverwijk, Groningen and Assen.

The Dutch railway infrastructure operator ProRail commissioned Movares to implement the PLC-based interlocking in Santpoort-Noord back in 2014. Compared to classic relay systems, the operator was able to reduce life cycle costs by 30 per cent with the innovative HIMA technology. The cost efficiency results from the use of open technology, which minimises vendor lock-in and enables easier maintenance and upgrades. The system is highly scalable, making it suitable for both large and small railway applications. It can also be seamlessly integrated into the European traffic management standard ERTMS. In practice, the IXL system has a proven availability of 99.9995% and over 800,000 operating hours without safety incidents.

"This project is another milestone in our continuous efforts to ensure the safety and reliability of the Dutch railway system. Thousands of commuters benefit from this every day," explains Josse Brys, Sales Director Europe & Africa at HIMA. "Our joint commitment to safety and innovation is once again setting standards in railway safety," says Jörg de la Motte, praising the collaboration with Movares.

The cooperation agreement was signed in April in Utrecht in the presence of Jörg de la Motte (CEO of HIMA Group), Frits Makkinga (Senior Consultant, Movares),  Robert Claasen (CEO of Movares), Ferdi van den Brûle (Account Manager Rail, HIMA), and Josse Brys (Sales Director Europe & Africa, HIMA) (f.l.t.r.)


(Picture: Movares)