Longer trains to run between Schiphol, Nijmegen by end 2019

ProRail is accelerating the plan to run longer trains between Amsterdam and Nijmegen to implement it in the autumn of 2019, three years earlier than initially planned. The route is one of the busiest in the Netherlands, NU.nl reports.

In order to increase the length of trains from 10 carriages to twelve carriages, adjustments need to be made at Nijmegen station. Rail manager ProRail is accelerating the planned adaptions at the Gelderland station at the request of State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure and the province of Gelderland. By using longer trains on the route, the number of seats per ride increases by 20 percent to 1,200.

According to the government, accelerating the plans is badly needed because the number of train passengers is increasing rapidly. "The train is attractive to more and more people, but we have to do everything we can to keep it that way. Because everyone prefers to stand in the train as little as possible", Van Veldhoven said.

The State Secretary also made 135 million euros available for increasing the number of trains per hour on the Schiphol-Nijmegen route. While these plans are still in the making, it is clear that the work will take place between 2022 and 2026, according to the newspaper.