The House of Representatives has approved with a large majority motions for infrastructure around Groningen Airport Eelde and an investigation into the Lower Saxony line. The Chamber is also investigating a Staphorst station.
Minister Mark Harbers and State Secretary for Infrastructure Vivianne Heijnen opposed the motions because no money has been allocated for it. After this ruling by the House, they will have to come up with a response about how they are going to implement the plans anyway.
VVD MP Daniel Koerhuis asked in a motion for 10 million euros for traffic junctions around Groningen Airport Eelde and Maastricht Aachen Airport. A large majority of coalition parties plus Denk, JA21, PVV, FVD and a few small factions voted in favour. GroenLinks, PvdA, Party for the Animals and SP voted against.
Motion station Staphorst
A motion by Nicky Pouw-Verweij of JA21 about an investigation into a station in Staphorst could also count on a parliamentary majority. The motion states that the municipality of Staphorst has been kept on the line about a station for years, while that wish has been alive for a long time. Almost all political groups agreed: from the coalition to the left and right opposition.
In the motion, the House asks the cabinet to investigate how such a station can get off the ground and how planning can be done faster. In a first reaction, the State Secretary said that this is difficult. The station would only fit in a slow train service Zwolle-Leeuwarden if it is decentralized, but the line remains of the NS.
Research Lower Saxony Line
A motion by Stieneke van der Graaf of the ChristenUnie for a MIRT investigation into the Lower Saxony line has also been adopted with a large majority. The motion requests the government to investigate the missing piece of track between Stadskanaal and Emmen.
The motion also calls for money to be allocated in the spring for the section of this track between Veendam and Stadskanaal. A STAR steam train is already running on that section on Sundays, so no completely new track has to be built for it. No amounts of money are mentioned in the motion. The province had already reserved 63 million euros for it, but that is not nearly enough.
The House of Representatives has also tabled a number of amendments on the allocation of money for the Meppel rail bottleneck and money for the Lower Saxony line. Those amendments will not be voted on until Thursday.