The Lely line is closer than ever. At the same time, the fast rail connection from Groningen and Friesland to the Randstad is still very far away and it will be exciting again around the elections in November whether the new cabinet will put billions of euros on the table.
“If you only look at the passenger numbers and what is earned with the train tickets, then you might as well stop these plans immediately,” says Stijn Lechner (56), the top civil servant of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management who December last year was appointed project director Lelylijn for two years.
“The problem of revenues applies to 80 percent of all rail projects. If you only take that as a benchmark, we could never have built anything in the Netherlands.”
According to Lechner, for the Lelylijn you have to think of the concept of broad prosperity, of linking the Northern Netherlands with the rest of the Netherlands and eliminating the backlog. “This is not for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren,” Lechner said.
What do you think? Should we speed up the Lely line or is it a waste of money? Respond to the statement of the day.