On Tuesday, January 16, the Zwolle region, together with the Northern provinces, presents the standing committee for Infrastructure and Water Management in The Hague with a petition about the ‘Bottleneck Meppel’.
The offering has already been made announced on December 12 . The reason is the enormous number of disruptions on the railway between Meppel and Zwolle, which completely paralyzes train traffic to the North. The urgency for presenting the petition has only increased since mid-December. Over the past five days there has been a disruption to the timetable every day.
For example, today, Thursday January 11, there was a disruption due to a defective train. Yesterday a defective track caused delays. Near Zwolle, a crack had appeared in the track due to frost. A broken overhead line was the culprit on Tuesday, a collision on Monday and a switch failure on Sunday. It happens almost every day on the track between Zwolle and Meppel.
‘Emergency options’
There are plans to expand Meppel station with a fourth platform and to adapt the railway line between Meppel and Zwolle. The provinces of Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland and the Zwolle Region are asking the House of Representatives to make money available for this. Of the 75 million needed, 35 million has already been promised by the cabinet.
The adjustments will provide more ‘alternative options’ and would also create room for four instead of the current three intercity trains per hour between Zwolle, Assen and Groningen.
ProRail regional director Danou Veenhof said on Wednesday evening NOS News that it could take another nine years before these solutions are realized.
Another solution would be the Lely line, a second rail connection between the North and the rest of the Netherlands.