Train passengers in Drenthe will have to deal with five new Arriva trains in 2028. The service provider has again obtained the transport rights on the Vechtdal lines until 2043, and this includes new investments.
The extra FLIRT trains – an electric and light model from the Swiss Stadler – ensure that more timetables between Emmen and Zwolle are possible, and they can last for many years.
In two years’ time, two trains will stop every hour at the stations in Dalen and Gramsbergen, in both directions. “The new trains ensure a sustainable capacity expansion and further strengthen regional rail connections,” says Annemarie Hoogeveen, director of Arriva East region.
Anyone who makes the journey to Almelo from Drenthe via Mariënberg will notice that the diesel trains on that line will make way for the new ones in 2028.
The new trains consist of four trainsets and each can accommodate 457 passengers. The well-known blue and white colored trains will also disappear. The fifteen current trains will be given an exterior makeover to purple-blue-green, the same colors as the regional transport in Overijssel, Gelderland and Flevoland.