The project organization that has to get the Lely line off the ground is holding a kind of plebiscite about the railway this month. Which way is it going?
What exactly is the Lely line?
That is not exactly clear yet. For many people, including the ‘The Hague decision-makers’, it is only a new, fast railway line between Lelystad and Groningen. This halves the travel time from Groningen to Amsterdam/Schiphol to about one hour because the distance is shorter than via Zwolle and the train travels faster: 200 instead of 140 to 160 km per hour. Friesland also wants a fast branch to Leeuwarden from Heerenveen.
In a European context, the Amsterdam – Groningen route is a missing part of the international network of fast railway lines. The railway office of the European Union sees the Lely line as the fastest route between Amsterdam and Hamburg. This means that a Lely line, via Groningen and Bremen, in turn becomes part of much longer routes, such as London – Berlin or Paris – Stockholm. From Hamburg, the high-speed rail to Berlin and Copenhagen is already under construction.
Europe is increasingly concerned with fast rail as a sustainable alternative to car and air traffic. The organization of cross-border rail transport has always been neglected by the national government and NS, in contrast to Germany and France. Groningen has not appeared in the international chapter at all since 1957.
What is the consultation about?
The project organization of the Lelylijn, part of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, has yet to clarify whether the Lelylijn can become part of the international route. For the time being, she only asks the population what the government should take into account during construction and what advantages and disadvantages people see for Lelystad-Groningen. The last opportunity to participate in the ‘plebiscite’ is March 31. The project organization also meets with the business community and local authorities. There must be a route and a financing plan by autumn 2024. The organization must also give an opinion on extending the Lely line to Germany, after three motions on this in the House of Representatives. It wants to prevent the track from being unsuitable for German international trains.
What are the advantages of the Lely line?
That’s quite a few. Apart from the train finally becoming faster than the car on the route between Groningen-Leeuwarden and Amsterdam-Schiphol (also from Assen), other rail connections benefit in the same way. This is because capacity is being released on the existing railway lines, such as Groningen-Zwolle. NS and Arriva will have the opportunity to use it for direct connections to, for example, Eindhoven or Arnhem. The Lelylijn also provides relief elsewhere where the track is struggling with capacity problems, such as around Hengelo (including goods to Germany), Arnhem and Osnabrück.
There are mainly disadvantages for the landscape, although proponents say and designers show that integrations can be devised without the railway degenerating into an impregnable barrier. Environmental organizations are discussing damage to nature, while Europe is actually encouraging rail in the fight against air pollution.
Are you going to use the Lely line?
That depends on what kind of line it is. Will you soon be able to get on the Eurostar directly to London? Or to Bordeaux, Berlin and Copenhagen? Then the railway will attract a different type of passenger than is currently on the intercity to The Hague. Groningen will then benefit from the progress Amsterdam wants to make as a sustainable international train city. If the project organization succeeds in making the new railway line both fast and suitable for fast local trains, as in Germany, the region will also benefit from new stations such as Leek, Drachten, Heerenveen-Joure, Lemmer and Emmeloord.
How much does the construction of Lelylijn cost?
In any case, a lot more than the 3 billion that the government has now made available. A more than doubling (7 to 8 billion) is generally regarded as realistic, but the question is whether this will succeed. A lot of money will undoubtedly be invested in tunnels, such as those under the Ketelmeer and other vulnerable nature areas. The ‘landfall’ is also a question mark: in Groningen, the Lely line is not yet taken into account in the current renovation of the main station. A tunnel from P+R Hoogkerk is an option, also in view of the other train plans (Wunderline, Nedersaksenlijn, doubling to Leeuwarden). It is not yet known whether the current rail route Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere-Lelystad needs to be expanded for an additional international connection. In terms of costs, it makes quite a difference whether there is a fast national train (200 km per hour) or a combination of the international standard (320 km per hour) with even freight transport. There are all sorts of variants.