Infrastructure budget cuts hindering international train connections in Amsterdam
Cutbacks at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management are jeopardizing plans to run more international trains to Amsterdam. The cutbacks mean that the planned extension of the Amsterdam metro to Schiphol might not happen, and thus also not the expansion of the Schiphol tunnel’s capacity, leaving no extra room for international trains, NOS reports.
The Schiphol railway tunnel is used not only by sprinters and intercity trains between Amsterdam and the airport but also by many international trains like the Eurostar to Paris and London. “At the busiest times, 50 trains per hour pass through the tunnels here,” Harro Homan of rail manager ProRail told NOS. The capacity on the busy route is limited, and there is basically no room for additional trains.
The plan was to create more space in the Schiphol tunnel by extending the Noord-Zuid metro line in Amsterdam, which currently ends at Amsterdam Zuid station, to the airport and Hoofddorp. That would allow people to use the metro instead of the sprinters and intercities for their daily commutes or trips to the airport, leaving more room in the Schiphol tunnel for international trains.
International trains are considered the most sustainable alternative to short flights within Europe, and several parties are pushing to run more international trains through the Netherlands. Several carriers competed last year to secure a place on the international rail, and almost all political parties had the ambition in their election programs.
But the announced budget cuts at the Ministry mean that the Cabinet withdrew the 1.8 billion euros dedicated to extending the Noord-Zuid line, making plans for more international trains uncertain, too. “If this money is not available, that ambition will be lost, and we, as the rail manager, will be unable to realize it,” Homan said. Failing to extend the metro line would also have consequences for construction in the region in the coming years, including planned homes in Hoofddorp.
