Protos EMU 5032 at Ede-Wageningen - Photo by Henk Hartsuiker
New PROTOS EMUs on the chickenline
In 2006 public transport company Connexxion won the concession to operate passenger trains
on the so-called ‘Kippenlijn’ or Chickenline between Amersfoort and Ede-wageningen.
This single-track and electrified line was called so because their used to be a lot of poultryfarms in this area, but nowadays there aren’t as many as their used to be. Connexxion promotes the line under the name ‘Valleilijn’ or Valleyline.
To do the work Connexxion ordered 5 EMUs in Germany from manufacturer Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau who named their design PROTOS. The units delivered to Connexxion are the first of their kind and are numbered 5031 – 5035. Delivery took place between july and november 2007. Before that Connexxion leased plan V units from NS.
According to the timetable trains run 4 times per hour between Amersfoort and Barneveld
and 2 times per hour between Amersfoort and Ede-Wageningen in each direction.
With such a tight schedule and having only 5 trains at its disposal it shouldn’t come as no big surprise that sometimes Connexxion simply has to cancel services because their aren’t enough trains available. Passenger will in such cases be informed that the train doesn’t go because of “logistical problems”.
The PROTOS units consists of 2 cars and have a length of 54.5 meter. Their maximum speed
is 160 kph and there is room for 170 passengers, 16 in first class and 154 in second class.
They have a fresh lightblue livery with white fronts and a design that differs quite a lot from
any NS design or anything else on Dutch tracks. Please decide for yourself whether you like them or not. At Amersfoort station these trains depart from platform 4 and their numbers can be found on the buffer housing.
Henk Hartsuiker
March 2008
