ProRail faces a major job next year. Various parts of the Dutch railway need a makeover. The company will invest a total of 1.8 billion euros in Dutch rail next year. ProRail will also be working on the track in several places in Drenthe in 2026.
Due to this work, a number of routes in Drenthe will be out of service for several days next year. There are no trains running between Meppel and Zwolle from July 10 to 13 and from August 14 to 17. ProRail is renewing the track and overhead lines on this route, because this connection is crucial for the accessibility of the North. If something goes wrong on this stretch of track, a detour will not be possible.
Train traffic will also be halted for a longer period of time between Meppel and Leeuwarden, namely from November 21 to 30. ProRail is also renewing the track there.
No trains will run between New Amsterdam and Gramsbergen in Overijssel from November 14 to 23. ProRail uses that period to prepare Coevorden station for a new connection to Bad Bentheim, Germany. Via the Vechtdal line Emmen-Coevorden-Zwolle, travelers can in the future transfer in Coevorden to the train to Bad Bentheim, via Emlichheim, among others.
At Coevorden station, ProRail is building an extra platform and the tracks are being adapted. The existing freight track towards Bad Bentheim will be renovated over a length of approximately thirty kilometers, so that passenger trains can soon also run.
In practice, this means that the rail network is deteriorating, according to ProRail. “Without structural investments, the Netherlands will remain stuck in a maintenance mode. We will only maintain a railway museum. It will all continue to run, but it will become outdated.”