High speed rail project faces more delays

Wednesday 24 January 2007

Delays to the high speed train link between Amsterdam and the Belgian border will cost the treasury at least €200m in lost income and there is a real risk of even more delays, transport minister Karla Peijs told parliament on Tuesday.

In particular, the safety system developed by Siemens is causing deadlines to be broken, the minister said. The HSL project is already 18 months overdue.

In addition, no final agreement had yet been reached on connecting Breda to the HSL route, Peijs said. And the government and train operator HSA were still in dispute over the €50m bill which needs to be paid because the trains themselves were not ordered on time, the minister said.

PvdA (Labour) MP Sharon Dijksma said she was shocked that 'so much bad news is contained in one letter'. 'There are so many loose ends and legal problems to be tied up,' she said.

MPs have asked the national audit office (Rekenkamer) to begin an independent investigation into the delays.

© DutchNews.nl

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