Councilor Klaas de Vries of the municipality of Meppel is relieved that money will unexpectedly be available to make the North more accessible by rail via Meppel. Meppel is still a bottleneck, but that will most likely change.
Train traffic between Meppel and Zwolle is at a standstill at all times. It is high time to tackle that process, northern governments have been saying for years. A proposal to that effect from GL-PvdA, Christian Union, CDA and Christian Union initially did not seem to come close to a parliamentary majority, but on Tuesday VVD and NSC changed tack.
A majority in the House of Representatives has now agreed to make another 40 million available (in addition to the 35 million euros previously made available) to tackle the problems between Meppel and Zwolle. Much to the relief of councilor Klaas de Vries. “This is good for Meppel for two reasons. There will certainly be fewer delays in the future,” says the councilor. Moreover, he expects that more trains will be able to run. “So the service is improving.”
De Vries also sees ‘linking opportunities’ ‘in the further future’ where other projects can be linked to improve the route. “I think there is the opportunity to make transitions in Meppel better. That is of course very interesting.” In concrete terms, he is thinking of a bicycle tunnel under the railway, which can connect the Ezinge district with the rest of Meppel.
He is pleased that the joint efforts of the northern governments have led to this result. Just last week, representatives from northern governments presented a petition in the House of Representatives, in an attempt to convince members to tackle the bottleneck. That now seems to have succeeded, although De Vries will only be reassured if enough hands are raised in the House of Representatives. “There will actually be a vote next week.”
The station near Meppel can be tackled with the required 75 million euros. There are more tracks and an extra platform is needed to better separate trains and passengers. Intercity trains and slow trains run along Meppel, between Leeuwarden, Groningen and Zwolle. Level crossings must also be removed or modified and a better energy supply is needed to allow all trains to pass without delays.
75,000 people travel via Meppel every day. Train traffic is currently at a standstill for ‘up to 12 hours a week’, Drenthe CDA MP Eline Vedder said in the debate on Monday.