Hanzelijn 

Strukton Rail is part of the contractor combination HanzaRailTeam, that consists of VolkerRail, Strukton Rail, ARCADIS and Alstom. This combination was established specifically for the Hanzelijn superstructure. The Hanzelijn is the 50 km long new double-track railway line connecting the Dutch towns of Lelystad and Zwolle.

Design & Construct
The Design & Construct (D&C) contract involves the entire superstructure of 45 km of this railway line. In total, the HanzaRailTeam is responsible for the engineering and construction of 167.5 kilometres of rail, 140,000 sleepers, 1,600 overhead line supports and 12.88 kilometres of noise barrier. The HanzaRailTeam will also take care of developing and installing the ERTMS train safety and control system, substations, switching stations, the traction and energy systems, and the telecommunications system. The line will be tested extensively following its construction, training will be provided and emergency plans tested. Travellers will be able to use the Hanzelijn by the end of 2012.

Hanzelijn
The newly constructed, 50-km-long Hanzelijn will provide a double rail connection between Lelystad and Zwolle. The line will be taken into operation at the end of 2012, transporting passengers at 200 kmph from Lelystad to Zwolle within half an hour. This will bring the northern and northeastern regions of the Netherlands closer to the Randstad conurbation in terms of travel time by train. The Hanzelijn will also alleviate pressure on the Gooilijn (the railway linking Amsterdam, Hilversum and Amersfoort) and the Veluwelijn (linking Amersfoort and Zwolle).

Sustainable railway line
ProRail wants the Hanzelijn to be a sustainable railway line. The HanzaRailTeam is happy to contribute. In its offer, the HanzaRailTeam proposed solutions including ecological buildings along the line and ground-source geothermic points heating. This will generate energy savings of up to 80% compared to electrical points warming. Geothermal points heating equipment also requires less maintenance.

Sustainable construction
The HanzaRailTeam will also adopt environmentally sound and energy saving measures during construction. Take the use of a steel road instead of a sandy road along the line, for example. This will enable the HanzaRailTeam to reduce fuel consumption for transport along the line by more than 90%. The steel road also reduces noise pollution and nuisance for the environment. The HanzaRailTeam also uses bio lubricants and its employees travel together, stay overnight when working on site, work at home and apply video-conferencing technology.

Sustainable materials are also purchased for the Hanzelijn. Ballast is a good example: it is both extracted and transported in a sustainable manner. This significantly reduces CO2 emissions.