[1][2] Infraspeed was founded with the goal of securing a major contract from the Dutch government to construct and maintain HSL-Zuid, a then-proposed 100 km high-speed line that runs from Amsterdam to the Belgian border.
Stated advantages of the PPP approach was the reduced burden on government budgets and the ideal that inclusion of the private sector would bring about efficiency gains and increased innovation in its delivery.
[3] Under the terms of the contract, the Netherlands paid €4.2 billion to cover the costs of constructing the infrastructure, while Infraspeed B.V. will receive income for its work totalling €2.5 billion to provide said infrastructure and to account for the costs of investment, maintenance, capital and depreciation; however, this income was conditional on the basis of specified availability levels of 99 percent being attained by the completed line.
[3] Amongst the more significant civil engineering works that were constructed for HSL-Zuid include a 6km-long viaduct outside Bleiswijk, a 2km-long bridge crossing the Hollandsch Diep waterway, and four tunnels of various lengths, the longest of which being just short of 8km.
[3][6] Due to the requirement for trains to traverse these tunnels at a maximum speed of 300km/h, it was necessary to develop and install specialised equipment that would be capable of operating under any foreseeable emergency situations that may arise during the line's operating life, including lighting, escape routes, fire detection and fire fighting systems, ventilation, drainage, flood protection measures, heating, and access elevators.
Power for the line was provided via seven purpose-built autotransformer substations; the overhead contact system comprised, amongst other elements, 2,507 pylons, 4,038 brackets, 180km of negative feeders and 180km of return conductors.