Amsterdam's Noord-Zuid subway line faces new setback

The development of a new train safety system for Amsterdam's subway network has been significantly delayed, the Amsterdam mayor and aldermen said to the city council on Thursday. As a result, municipal transit company GVB will need to use the old system for a longer time, which could result in more disruptions and delay, the Telegraaf reports.

The intention was to connect the new system to the existing subway network and then integrate the new Noord-Zuid line on it. But supplier Alstom recently announced that there are problems with the development of the software, so installing it on the existing network will take more time.

As the municipality, GVB and the Transport Region want to prevent any further delays to the Noord-Zuid line, which is set to open in July next year, the decision was made to first install the new safety system on the Noord-Zuid line and later on the rest of the subway network, according to the newspaper.

"This is obviously a setback", Hoite Detmar, director of the Noord-Zuid line, said to the Telegraaf. "In this way we safeguard the start of the Noord-Zuid line, but it still remains a big risk for us."

This also means that the life of the current system must be extended and adapted to include the Noord-Zuid line. In the coming period, the involved parties will investigate the financial and technical consequences of this delay. When the new system will be ready is unclear.