Train service to Schiphol slashed until March 8; More rail work in Amsterdam this weekend

Fewer passenger trains will operate to and from Schiphol Airport for a 12-day period beginning on Monday due to the continuation of a major overhaul of Schiphol Airport Station. The maintenance work is part of a six-year renovation of both six-kilometer tunnels that lead to and from the station, which date back to 1981. Additionally, train service will be disrupted west of Amsterdam next weekend.

The adjusted timetable will show “far fewer” trains connecting with the airport station, the NS said. This will continue until March 8. “Passengers must take into account more crowded trains, different departure and arrival tracks, additional transfers and a longer travel time,” the NS stated.

Work will resume at Schiphol from March 29 to April 1, and again from May 9 to May 13. The next portion of the airport station project will take place in November.

The train station is currently the fourth busiest in the country, behind the central stations in Utrecht, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, when also taking transfer passengers into account. The Schiphol station handled nearly 117,000 passengers per day in 2019, and about 74,000 per day in 2022 as travel resumed following the coronavirus pandemic. The NS said halfway through 2023 that passenger figures were beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Normally, the station handles an average of about 50 trains per hour on its six platforms, and the NS announced several plans to increase passenger train service to and from the airport in the coming years. Railroad infrastructure firm ProRail said the six-year project will make it possible to continue using the tunnels and train line for another four decades.

The work began in 2022, with ProRail spreading out the project during off-peak periods not interfere with holiday periods. The extensive project involves replacing 19 kilometers of track, overhead lines, and switches, while upgrading safety features. The tracks will also be raised so that passengers can get on and off the trains more easily by the time work is finished in 2028.

This current round of work will involve work on the escalators, stairs and ramps at the station, as well as replacing two switches in the railway tunnels, and maintaining technical installations and lighting systems there. The railroad workers will also carry out work closer to Hoofddorp.

Aside from this work, there will be another project next weekend hindering transport to anyone trying to get between the airport and either Amsterdam Centraal or Amsterdam Sloterdijk. “During the weekend of March 2 and 3, work will also take place on the tracks on the west side of Amsterdam,” the NS warned.

This will mean passengers will have to use the metro between Amsterdam Centraal and Amsterdam Zuid, while using the train for the portion of their journey between Zuid and Schiphol Airport. “Additional NS customer service employees involved will help travelers on their way at the various stations.”