Fewer trains at Amersfoort station due to railroad work
ProRail will work on the track around Amersfoort Centraal station all summer. The seven-week work will start on Saturday, July 6. From then on, travellers will have to take into account fewer or no trains and will have to travel around or take a bus.
ProRail is renewing the track and switches at Amersfoort, "one of the busiest connections in the Netherlands," according to the rail infrastructure manager. The consequences for passengers will vary per work phase. From 6 to 12 July, people between Amersfoort and Schiphol or Amsterdam will have to travel via Utrecht Central Station and will take the bus to Baarn, according to NS. In the following weeks, Amersfoort will be virtually inaccessible by train until the end of July. Passengers will, therefore, travel by rail via Arnhem Central Station to Deventer, and between Utrecht and Zwolle, the route will go via Almere. NS and Keolis will also be using buses.
In August, there will be no trains to Den Dolder, a detour will be via Hilversum, and no replacement buses. This will last until August 14, with an almost completely inaccessible Amersfoort Centraal again until August 18. Replacement buses will be running during the last days of the work.
During various work phases, the P+R area Piet-Mondriaanplein at Amersfoort Centraal will not be available because the replacement buses will have to park there. At Amersfoort Schothorst, NS will place fifty extra public transport bicycles so people can cycle to and from the central station.
Galecopper bridge towards Arnhem closed due to roadwork
Road users who want to cross the Galecopper bridge of the A12 motorway near Utrecht must consider closures on the weekend from Saturday. In the direction of Arnhem, the bridge will be completely closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the latest due to roadwork. If the work goes well, the road can also be opened before 8 p.m.
Rijkswaterstaat warns that the bridge will also be closed on July 20, 21, 27, and 28. Road users heading towards Arnhem can take a detour via the A1, A15, or the provincial road N230. The extra travel time will be up to sixty minutes. Traffic heading towards The Hague will not be affected by the roadwork and can simply drive over the bridge.
The roadwork is part of the large-scale renovation of the bridge, which will last until the middle of next year. During the closures this month, a new construction will be placed on the eastern tower of the bridge in the direction of Arnhem, reports Rijkswaterstaat. Furthermore, pipes will be placed between the bridge deck and this new construction. The new steel cables will run through these pipes in the future.
According to Rijkswaterstaat, the bridge is increasingly being burdened by heavier freight and car traffic. The steel cables that support the bridge deck also show signs of rust formation in the direction of Arnhem. According to the road manager, maintenance is necessary to ensure that the bridge can be used safely in the future.
The Galecopper bridge is the second busiest bridge in the Netherlands, with 220,000 vehicles per day. The bridge has been under construction for a long time. Road users will notice this in, among other things, narrower lanes and a reduction in the maximum speed to 70 kilometers per hour.
Reporting by ANP