FROM October 1, the OverNight Express that was launched in May 2000 as a mixed passenger and freight operation between Amsterdam and Milano ceased to carry freight. It then became just another sleepers and seats operation, but that too was due to be withdrawn from October 28.
Six months ago, ONE was being hailed as a great success. Michel Jonker of NS Internationaal said then that he was ’really hopeful about this whole project’ and was planning to launch other routes in May 2002 (RG 5.01 p339). After Italian objections to the planned switch from 160 km/h former postal vans carrying pallets to refrigerated swap bodies on 140 km/h flats had been overcome in March 2001, the way forward seemed clear.
ONE was a joint venture between NS Internationaal and Railion Benelux, with DB, SBB and FS providing crews and traction. Freight customers were represented by Efforrt, a group of traders based at Schiphol airport and the nearby flower market at Aalsmeer, who were attracted by the 14h transit that an international passenger express could command. By combining perishable freight with sleeping cars, two services that would lose money individually were supposed to become profitable.
The passenger business fared reasonably well, with 55000 passengers using the train during the first 12 months. Freight was another matter. Railion Benelux says that even with refrigeration, which was not available in the original vans, the switch to swap bodies did not attract enough business to move ONE into profit. But the continued use of Amsterdam’s Westhavn freight terminal was not convenient for Efforrt members, who wanted to load their swap bodies at Hoofddorp. Alas, railway bureaucracy stepped in with a ban on freight movement through the tunnel under Schiphol airport.
