from:
Amsterdam Centraal Netherlands to:
Hoorn Netherlands

Hi everyone! This is a short video I think you will find it very interesting. What do we do when a police car closes in on a railway crossing while an oncoming train is running slowly? We start the ride at Amsterdam Centraal. It’s a very nice sunny day in October. A bit back in time because of my holiday. We start the ride with a small delay because the train arrived a bit behind on schedule in Amsterdam. Because we must get back on schedule, we will drive over railway switches at Singelgrachtbrug on maximum allowed speed. This is not very comfortable for passengers. Therefor I give them a heads-up via the intercom. Amsterdam Sloterdijk is the first stop of the ride. Normally we would inform passengers this train does not stop at Zaandam. But due to a changed train schedule we will make that stop today. Normally this train runs towards Alkmaar and Den Helder (with stop on Zaandam). The train to Hoorn and Enkhuizen normally doesn’t stop at Zaandam. Those two train lines have today been combined. In the end this train will run towards Alkmaar, but via Hoorn. There’s the stop at Zaandam. Normal for the train towards Alkmaar, not for the train towards Hoorn. Just after this stop we will encounter the police on the road. When a train activates a railway crossover police, ambulance and firetrucks must always wait until the train has passed. It does not matter at what speed the train travels. The reason for this: there is always a possibility there’s another train coming. I think it was about a year ago a police car got hit by a train in Hoorn after not following this written rule. So even though our speed is just 40km/h. The police will wait in front of the crossover and when they do stop the lights and the siren. In this case the police will wait on the same direction the traffic is running. But it’s also possible the police will wait at the lane of the opposite direction to pass all the other traffic as first as soon as the light of the crossover are turned off. We will encounter three bridges without overhead wires on this short ride. At these locations we shut down the train’s motors. The pantograph will lose contact with the wires just before the end of the power line. On the other side the pantograph will slide under the wires again as the wires reach the highest point the pantograph can reach. After this the high voltage is set back to the train and the driver can put power to the motors again. Hoorn is the final stop for this video but not for the train. After this the train headed towards Alkmaar in the other direction, via the line Hoorn – Obdam – Heerhugowaard – Alkmaar. Could’ve been unique for the video as we would’ve been doing that ride. But after this I headed back towards Amsterdam with another train. I hope you have enjoyed this short but sunny video. The Meaning of Signals https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0017707/ More Ride Info https://treinposities.nl/ritinfo/20231021/3042