Betuweroute
The Betuweroute is a 160 km double-track, freight-only railway line running from the Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam to the German border at Zevenaar, operated by infrastructure manager ProRail.
The Betuweroute opened on 16 June 2007 and remains one of the few purpose-built freight-only main lines in Europe. It separates freight from the Netherlands’ dense passenger traffic, giving port-related rail cargo a dedicated route to the German network and the European hinterland.
Purpose and design
The line is electrified at 25 kV AC — unlike the 1.5 kV DC used on the surrounding Dutch network — and signalled with ETCS Level 2, with a maximum speed of 120 km/h. The higher voltage supports heavier trains and better acceleration under load. Design capacity is 10 freight trains per hour per direction.
Cost and the German bottleneck
Construction cost amounted to EUR 4.7 billion, making it one of the largest infrastructure projects the Dutch state has undertaken. The line’s effectiveness has been constrained on the German side: the connecting Emmerich–Oberhausen section requires a third track, and construction work on this connection has led to repeated partial closures of the corridor. Full utilisation of the Betuweroute depends on completion of the German works — a recurring example of how national investment cycles misalign on cross-border corridors.
Corridor role
The Betuweroute forms the Dutch rail spine of the Rhine-Alpine axis, linking Rotterdam — Europe’s largest seaport by cargo volume — with the Ruhr, the Rhine valley and the Alpine transit routes towards Italy. The line carries a substantial share of all cross-border rail freight between the Netherlands and Germany.