Rotterdam opposition firmly against plan to reduce tram service

The future plans for Rotterdam public transport have not gone down well with the opposition in the city council, with thousands of Rotterdammers also objecting to the plans. Parts of tram lines 4 and 8 will disappear, and will instead be replaced by bus connections in the proposal.

Opponents described the plans in Thursday's council meeting as "efficiency minded" and "ordinary austerity measures that give residents of neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city less mobility." The parts of the tram routes that will be scrapped are located in the districts of Spangen in Rotterdam-West and Hillegersberg in Noord, among others. The council has received dozens of angry letters from citizens about this, and a petition against the scaling down has also been signed by just under 13,000 people.

According to the opposition, the council mainly leaves young and old Rotterdammers who depend on public transport out in the cold with the plan. Moreover, the plan gives motorists free rein, even though they are already afforded a great deal of space, the opposition said. On Thursday, 35 motions were submitted against the plan. The coalition parties Leefbaar Rotterdam, VVD, D66 and DENK disagreed with the premise behind objections, but acknowledged that the plans still need improvement.

The responsible alderman, Vincent Karremans, contradicted the notion that the plan is focused on efficiency and austerity. "Public transport is heavily loss-making. It's about how we use the available resources where they add the most value. In the coming years we will invest 3 billion euros in public transport in Rotterdam." Karremans admitted that "painful choices also have to be made in favor of the busiest lines." He also promised that Rotterdam will not blindly agree with the plan in its current form.

The future plan, which is still in the concept phase, also includes new public transport such as a tram connection from east to south via a new bridge that has yet to be built and will cost hundreds of millions of euros. It will span the Nieuwe Maas between the De Esch and IJsselmonde districts. In addition, there will be a tram line to the Kralingse Bos and more metros will have to run, while trams will have to run faster to shorten travel times.

The plan was developed by the municipality, the Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Area (MRDH) and regional transportation provider RET. It was dubbed Plan Toekomstvast Tramnet 2030 regio Rotterdam (PTT), or the Future-proof Tram Network 2030: Rotterdam Region.

A final plan should be ready by the end of June of this year.