HSA High Speed Alliance

Yesterday I had to be in Utrecht at the headquarters of the Dutch Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen - NS) for a mini seminar about the HSA (High Speed Alliance). HSA is a joint venture between the NS and the KLM Group for a high speed train that connects cities within The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Schiphol, The Hague/Den Haag, Rotterdam and Breda), Antwerp and Brussels. Because KLM also has a stake in this project, they contracted AFC to make sure that everything is going according to plan.

So Timmy, Ricardo, Maureen and I met up at Utrecht Centraal and together we headed to the NS Headquarters.

NS buidling in Utrecht

The seminar brought up some interesting stuff I did not know about. The HSA will work in cooperation with the French SNCF who manages the French High Speed Train 'Thalys', which in turn is an Air France partner. They will operate the HSA line Amsterdam-Paris. Or you can conveniently connect in Brussels to Paris or to London with the Eurostar. Rotterdam-Paris in 2 hours... I can't wait! No need to go through a bunch of crap at SPL, when I have to be in Roissy for a meeting!

All-in-all it was a very informative day. The NS people were very friendly and welcoming. Also... I liked doing something a little different for a change.

Now let me grab some breakfast and head out to work. Adios!