OREANDA-NEWS. Infrabel will supply two brand-new emergency vehicles for the Diabolo high-speed rail link to the Zaventem and Brussels fire-fighting services. These vehicles are special because they are capable of travelling on both roads and rail tracks. This will considerably simplify rail safety interventions.

Rapid and efficient interventions

The vehicles will be used during any fire-fighting interventions, for example when smoke develops in the Diabolo tunnel (the tunnel under Zaventem Airport). They can arrive by road or rail to within metres of the site of the incident in order to intervene rapidly and efficiently.

An investment in safety

Each vehicle, which Infrabel has commissioned from an Austrian manufacturer, comes with a price tag of some EUR 1.5 million. Although a considerable sum of money, this investment will improve rail safety and allow the local fire-fighting services to carry out targeted operations.

The emergency vehicles come with a number of features, including a double cabin for firefighters, a pump station, a fire ladder, a 2,500-litre-capacity water tank, a foam tank and a foam mixer. They can reach a maximum speed of 90 km/h on the road and 40 km/h on the rails.

In line with the strategy

The operational deployment of these two emergency vehicles will fit perfectly into Infrabel's strategy for optimal rail safety. What is more, the Diabolo rail link's infrastructure is equipped with a fire detection and evacuation system, the necessary foam risers, the footpaths and access routes for emergency services, evacuation shafts and transverse connections.