Train traffic through Amersfoort Central Station restarts after 7 weeks of railworks

After seven weeks of railworks, train traffic to and from Amersfoort Central Station resumed on its normal timetable on Monday morning. The first train left the station at around 5:00 a.m.

The trains aren’t completely back to normal yet. Fewer intercity trains are running between Amersfoort and Amersfoort Schothorst until 3:30 p.m. on Monday due to work that took longer than expected, NS reported.

Amersfoort Central Station - one of the busiest stations in the Netherlands, as it connects the Randstad with the north and east of the country - was virtually inaccessible over the past seven weeks. Travelers had to detour or take a bus, often resulting in up to an hour of extra travel time, according to RTV Utrecht.

Over the past seven weeks, rail manager ProRail renewed over 700 kilometers of cable, completely replaced 5 kilometers of railway, removed 42 switches, replaced 29 of them, and replaced the entire overhead line. It also renovated the security systems in and around Amersfoort. According to the rail manager, this major renovation was done in 1,172 hours of non-stop work.

Now that it’s done, the trains will run “on the new tracks, more comfortable and faster than ever,” a ProRail spokesperson said. “That is something to look forward to.”