Husa Transportation Group (formerly ''Husa Capital'') is a group of railfreight, logistics and rail services companies founded in 1998, the group's main business arm on foundation was ACTS Nederland BV (ACTS), founded 1989, an open access freight operator in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 2014 the company announced it would exit the rail freight operating business, and dispose of the assets of its 'Husa Transportation Rail Services' (HTRS) subsidiaries.

History

ACTS Nederland BV was founded in 1989, and developed systems for

transloading Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped in ...

of containerised waste from road to rail without the use of cranes.The system was named the ''Afzet Container Transport Systeem'', giving rise to the

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

ACTS. (see also ACTS (containersysteem) ''Dutch language'' or Abrollcontainer-Transportsystem ''German language'') In 1997 the ACTS container service were discontinued by NS Cargo. Subsequently, ACTS gained a license to operate as a railway company, and on 16 March 1998 began to operate waste container trains between

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and VAMVuil Afvoer Maatschappij (VAM) was a waste disposal company. (See also

VAM VAM may refer to: Science and technology * Vinyl acetate monomer, a chemical component used in plastics manufacture * VAM (bicycling), a measure of rate of climb in bicycle racing * Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos, a Mexican automaker * VAM, a tr ...

''Dutch language'') in Wijster, becoming the first private Dutch rail company. In 1999 the company began transporting

ISO Container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different mod ...

s for ''Vos Logistics''. In 2004 Husa Capital BV obtained a majority of shares in ACTS, Ir John Hoekwater, ACTS's founding director was replaced by Rob van Gansewinkel. By 2004 ACTS had acquired a 7% market share of rail freight in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2006 ACTS in association with the Dutch railway infrastructure authority

ProRail ProRail () is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure (not the metro or tram), the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part ...

operated test trains on the

Betuweroute The Betuweroute is a double track Freight rail transport, freight railway between Rotterdam and Germany. is the official name, after the Betuwe area through which the route passes. The line is popularly called Betuwelijn, after an older local ...

. In January 2007 ACTS obtained certification to operate on the German rail system. By January 2008 ''Husa Capitals stake in ACTS had risen above 90%, and at the beginning of the same year ACTS was reorganised into independent operating companies with rolling stock leasing being taken over by RailMotion AG (

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Switzerland); the company inherited over 300 intermodal wagons. On the same date rolling stock maintenance was split into the company The Rail Factory BV based at

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

and

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

, and specialising in the maintenance of locomotives. A business sub-unit Portfeeders was also formed, to concentrate on 'feeder operations' (shunting) in the

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List of bus ...

. Rolandrail: ACTS/Portfeeders/Railmotion, ''section'' : "Beknopte geschiedenis" On 23 January 2008 ACTS obtained certification to operate on the Belgian railway network from the national railway network company

Infrabel Infrabel is a Belgian government-owned public limited company. It builds, owns, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, makes its capacity available to railway operator companies, and handles train traffic control. Infrabel was cr ...

. In January 2009 ''Husa Capital BV'' renamed itself Husa Transportation Group. RailFormation, Spring 2009, p.3 Husa Transportation Deutschland was formed by the acquisition of ''Rent-a-rail GmbH'' (railway construction locomotive leasing) and ''SRS RailService'' (rolling stock broker) in May 2009. ''De Vries Transport Services'', based in

Veendam Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck. Holland America Line has named fo ...

was acquired in September 2009 after bankruptcy, and renamed InterModal Solutions Veendam (IMS-Veendam). The company undertakes road transport, and operates terminals in Veendam and

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

. Bulk cargo handling (powders and granules) is carried out at Veendam, and warehousing at the ''Groningen Railport'' intermodal terminal in Veendam. In January 2014 the company announced it was to exit the rail freight transportation business, citing uncompetitive infrastructure access costs. The subsidiaries HRTS Nederlands and HRTS Süd were to be offered for sale, whilst rolling stock leasing company Rail Motion, and container shuttle business Shuttlewise were to remain in business.

Group structure

Since the end of 2008 the group is divided into three divisions Husa Railway Services (rail freight and leasing), Husa Logistic Services (intermodal freight) and Husa Rolling Stock Services (locomotive and rolling stock maintenance). The subdivisions are: *Husa Railway Services **ACTS Railways **Portfeeders **Husa Transportation Deutschland *Husa Logistics Services **IMS **Shuttlewise, joint venture with ''Den Hartog Logistics'' *Husa Rolling Stock Services **The Railfactory **Rail Service Benelux, joint venture with WRS (''Westdeutsche Rail Service GmbH.''), (

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

)

Rolling stock

ACTS

The company began rail operations in 1999, and by 2000 had five 1500 V DC ex- NS Class 1200s, 5 ex-

SNCB Class 62 The Class 62 is a diesel locomotive of the Belgian State Railways. These diesels found use all over Belgium. Five (6321, 6325, 6391-6393) were sold to ACTS in the Netherlands in 1999.First ACTS Locos Ready ''Today's Railways Europe'' issue 41 M ...

diesel mainline locomotives and ex-

Czech Railways Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surname) ...

diesel shunters built in East Germany. The 1200 electrics and 6700 diesels were modified to work in multiple and were often used in pairs for better performance. In 2003 three ex-

British Rail Class 58 The British Rail Class 58 is a class of Co-Co locomotives, Co-Co diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight. The narrow body with cabs at either end led to them being given the nickname "Bone" by railfan, rail enthusiasts. Their design repre ...

s were acquired, which operated until 2009 when

EMD Series 66 The Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) Class 66 (EMD JT42CWR) are Co-Co diesel locomotives built by EMD for the European heavy freight market. Designed for use in Great Britain as the British Rail Class 66, a development of the Class 59, they have b ...

leased from

Mitsui Rail Capital Mitsui Rail Capital (MRC) is a rolling stock leasing company. It was established by the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co, the company's main activities have been the purchase, renting, and leasing of railway freight cars and locomotives. MRC has ...

(MCRE) began to replace them.

MaK / Vossloh G1206 The Vossloh G1206 is a B'B' diesel hydraulic freight locomotive built in Kiel and used by several European railway operators including a SNCF specific variant the BB 461000 series. The design was created in the mid-1990s by Maschinenbau Kiel ...

(light freight and shunting) locomotives also began to be leased on short and long-term contracts from MRCE and Angel Trains Cargo after 2004. In 2008 ACTS started to acquire a second set of 1500 V DC locomotives, former

NS Class 1600 The NS Class 1600 is a type of B′B′ electric locomotive built by Alstom between 1980 and 1983 based on the SNCF Class BB 7200, and in use by the Dutch Railways since 1981. They were styled by the French industrial designer Paul Arzens. Th ...

machines from Railion Nederlands., and from 2009 onwards mainline freight locomotives

Vossloh G2000 BB The G 2000 BB is a four axle heavy shunting and mainline locomotive, designed by German company Vossloh and built at the former Maschinenbau Kiel, MaK plant in Kiel. At the time of its introduction in 2000 it was the most powerful hydraulic tran ...

were leased from Angel Trains Cargo and MRCE. In 2009 ACTS leased its first

Eurosprinter The EuroSprinter family of electric locomotives is a modular concept of locomotives for the European market built by Siemens Mobility. The internal Siemens product name is ES 64, with ES for EuroSprinter and the number 64 indicating the 6,400 ...

ES 64 F4 quad-voltage freight locomotive.

RailMotion

Since the group restructuring in 2008 RailMotion AG owns wagons suitable for heavy 40' ISO containers, 60' ISO containers, and the ACTS container system, the company also owns and leases locomotives inherited from ACTS, as of January 2011 the company has ten ex-

electric locomotives. Rolandrail: ACTS/Portfeeders/Railmotion, ''section'' : RailMotion

Rent-a-Rail

Rent-a-Rail operates shunting locomotives typically of less than 1000 kW power, additionally one

Vossloh G1206 The Vossloh G1206 is a B'B' diesel hydraulic freight locomotive built in Kiel and used by several European railway operators including a SNCF specific variant the BB 461000 series. The design was created in the mid-1990s by Maschinenbau Kiel ...

and two re-engined

DB Class V 100 These DB Class V 100 diesel locomotives were produced in the late 1950s by the Deutsche Bundesbahn for non-electrified branch lines as a replacement for steam locomotives. The V 100 class was built in three different variants. Decommissioned lo ...

, and an ex-

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

Class V 100 type are also operated as of 2010.

Liveries

The original ACTS livery was a deep blue with a thick horizontal yellow band, intended to be reminiscent of the American

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, some locomotives were painted operated in the livery of one of ACTS customers, ''Vos Logistics'', a livery of black with an orange stripe. Later machines received a grey green livery; introduced in 2006, The ex-NS 1600 remained in the yellow-grey livery of their previous owner

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...

, whilst other locomotives are in the livery of their leasing company. Some MaK G 1206s used for the ''Portfeeders'' subsidiary have received a special livery - slate blue with orange and red shaped diagonal bands.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

* ** ** ** ** * ;Images * *{{cite web, url=http://www.railfan.nl/acts.htm, title=ACTS NEDERLAND, work=www.railfan.nl, language=Dutch Transport companies established in 1998 Railway companies of the Netherlands Rail freight transport in the Netherlands Companies based in North Brabant Oisterwijk