Gov't pushes €350 mil. into renovating Amsterdam Centraal, Zuid stations

Until 2030 the government is pushing 350 million euros into renovating train stations Amsterdam Centraal and Amsterdam Zuid, to make them able to run more trains and therefore transport more passengers, State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure and Water Management said to Dutch parliament, NOS reports.

Around 200 thousand people travel through Amsterdam Centraal each day and the station is already one of the busiest in the Netherlands. CS currently runs 34 trains per hour. That must increase to 57, so that the routes to Alkmaar, Arnhem and Nijmegen can also have a train running every 10 minutes, the State Secretary said.

After looking into various options on how to achieve this, Van Veldhoven chose one in which the number of tracks at Amsterdam CS will be reduced from 15 to nine. According to her, this option with nine through-going platform tracks matches the demand for transport and contributes to a "robust timetable".

But this option means that a large proportion of international train traffic will have to be moved to Amsterdam Zuid station. This station will get a fifth and sixth track to accommodate the extra traffic. Zuid station will be transformed into an "international hub" with very frequent connections to the urban public transport connections and to Schiphol. According to Van Veldhoven, this fits with the international character of the Zuidas.

The Randstad's population is expected to increase  by 500 thousand people in the coming decade. Van Veldhoven wants to make sure that people can continue to easily use the train to go to work, family, friends or university. 

NS CEO Roger van Boxtel previously criticized the plan to reduce the number of tracks at Amsterdam Centraal.