Let me introduce myself first, my name is Henk Stokhorst, my home is in Roden, in the north of the province of Drenthe, The Netherlands. From childhood on I have had a fascination for energy politics. The way our society deals with our resources has changed considerably in a few generations and strongly influences our social and economic living conditions. To preserve the benefits and reduce the negative effects we will need new technologies. We cannot continue to use our mineral wealth at current consumption levels.
This interest led to a visit to a test track of the German Transrapid in the late eighties, located just across the Dutch border. Germany was still divided into East and West and the idea was to build an operational track in the Ruhr area. At the same time The Netherlands was discussing the High Speed Line-South, a fast rail connection between Amsterdam and Paris. It is a political discussion on the value of 'the green heart', the rural area in the western part of the country, and a long term investment of billions of guilders. Convinced of the progress made in Lathen I decided to start a one-person lobby for the Transrapid on that trajectory. At MVP, the 'Magnetic Track Systems Test and Planning Company' I met the Dutchman Ronald van der Meijs, working for them as project coordinator. He could advise and support me.
The first attempts to convince the people within the government bodies involved in planning the HSL-South of the advantages of the Transrapid were appreciated and duly answered, but there was no way to compete with the TGV, the French High Speed Train. Connection to the French high-speed network was more or less a prerequisite, and the Transrapid had not been officially declared ready for operational service. Nevertheless I decided to continue as long as no official decision had been made. At least I learned a lot about procedures and the negotiating culture of large infrastructure projects.
On February 13, 1993 the editors of the science review of the Dutch newspaper 'de Volkskrant' published an article about a proposal of HBG, the 'Dutch Concrete Group', a major constructor. They suggested building the entire track on poles, so that no large embankment for foundation would be needed nor would the landscape be physically cut in two. This led me to send a letter to the editors with a technical comparison of the design with a magnetic track. It was published on February 20.
Around that time the northern provinces of The Netherlands established the 'Society for the construction of the Southern Sea line'. This platform serves to rally political interest for a conventional railroad track on the trajectory Groningen - Heerenveen - Lelystad. I considered investigating their plans, but remained concentrated on the HSL South.
Rather strangely, a reaction came from unexpected source. The editors of the 'Leekster Courant', a local paper in the Westerkwartier region of the neighbouring province of Groningen called and requested an interview. I agreed and wondered what interesting information I could give to the people in Groningen on a project at the other side of the country. I recalled that the governor of Groningen, Henk Vonhoff had just laid ten metres of conventional railroad track in the town of Lelystad, with a request to the Minister of Transport to continue construction all the way to Groningen. I received the journalist with the words 'Vonhoff laid the wrong tracks'. The interview was a success, the journalist called the editors to send a photographer. I decided to wait and see if it provoked a reaction from the governor's office.
No reaction came, possibly the provincial newspaper clipping service does not subscribe to this newspaper. But still on this track I decided to approach Mr. Vonhoff myself. A councillor friend told me about the governor's preference for a good lunch during meetings. A few weeks later the governor opened a new model railroad track in the activity park 'Nienoord'. Two model constructors had each buildt a new steam locomotive, but had not taken into account that there was no existing track for their chosen scale. The park had offered to build a track for them. Mr. Vonhoff, also a historian, delivered a speech on the importance of steam through the ages. Afterwards I offered him a ride on the test track in Lathen, accompanied by fellow governors, civil servants and technicians. He gladly accepted the offer and asked for the details to be arranged with Mr. Timmer, secretary of the 'Society for the construction of the Southern Sea line'.
Following the necessary preliminary discussions the trip was arranged for February 3, 1994. A company of 25 northern politicians and civil servants from the transport department visited the test track. They were accompanied by a large number of journalists. The test-drive created enthusiasm among the visitors and the presentation was a succes. Also the round of questions and answers on the now officially declared 'ready for deployment' Transrapid, and the possibl continuation of the track to Hamburg created a positive outlook for the future. Mr. Vonhoff, chairman of the Society, announced that an amount of Dfl. 30,000 had been granted for an initial study of the construction of the proposed Southern Sea line as a magnetic track.
From this point developments accelerated. At this moment the northern provinces and a consortium of companies headed by the Dutch branch of the German firm Siemens are the driving force behind further research and proposals. Following the change of government in 1998 in Germany, the trajectory Hamburg-Berlin was cancelled. If the Dutch government does decide to build the track for the Transrapid, the German government will re-consider the original plans again. In that case the lobby started over 10 years ago will far exceed the objectives I imagined at the time.
As of early 2002 the Transrapid is still considered the best candidate for the Southern Sea line. A final decision by the Dutch government is expected at the end of 2002 or early 2003.
Nowadays I work on the GSLT project, if I am not flying a glider somehere.
If you wish to visit the test track in Lathen, go the website of MVP.