Amsterdam's Noord/Zuid subway line suffers another delay

The Noord/Zuid subway line in Amsterdam will only be put into operation on 22 July 2018, instead of previously announced October 2017, due to new setbacks, traffic alderman Pieter Litjens announced at a press conference on Friday, Het Parool reports. There will be no extra costs. "We had to communicate a different date. We know it is a huge disappointment for many Amsterdammers." Litjens said. The alderman cited several reasons for this latest delay. First the bankruptcy of suppliers Oskomera and Imtech, which played a major role in the subway's construction. Together these bankruptcies caused a delay of between four months and a year at different subway stations. Another reason for the delay is problems with the IT systems that have to run the new subway. Not all software systems were adjusted to work properly together and more time is needed to test them. When the construction of the Noord/Zuid line started in 2002, the delivery date was set for March 2011 and the budget was 1.4 billion euros. The costs for the line now amount to 3.1 billion euros.