To investigate exactly what the Lelylijn should look like, a work organization is being set up by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the provinces of Groningen, Fryslân and Drenthe. With this the Lely line goes into a ‘new phase’the ministry announced on Friday.
The intended new train connection runs from the city of Groningen, via Friesland and Flevoland, to the Randstad. With a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, the travel time between Groningen and Amsterdam should be shortened by about forty minutes. Drachten and Emmeloord will also be connected to the rail network with new stations.
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New residential areas
The Lelylijn is one of the components of the so-called ‘Deltaplan for the Northern Netherlands’. That plan should make living and working in the north of the country more attractive. In April last year, the northern provinces announced that they would 220,000 additional homes to build to combat the housing shortage. Condition they set: a faster rail connection with the Randstad.
The work organization that has been established is another ‘important step’ in the progress of the Lelylijn, says Wim van Wegen, councilor (D66) in the Noordoostpolder municipality and one of the initiators. “Although we think the pace could still be increased a bit. But it is about support, and that is why we are happy with this work organization that also involves residents and municipalities.”
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Not undisputed
Van Wegen has been lobbying for the arrival of the railway project for four years now. The provisional highlight is a reservation of 3 billion euros in the coalition agreement that the new government presented in December. The cabinet also registered the Lelylijn in Brussels this month as a new link within the European rail network TEN-T – in the hope of obtaining the necessary EU subsidy. The idea is that the Lelylijn also connects internationally to train connections to Germany and Scandinavia.
The Lely line is certainly not undisputed. First of all, it is still unclear exactly how the route should run, what type of trains will run on it and how fast, and importantly: how often those trains will depart. Not to mention who all bear the total costs (as yet estimated at 6 to 9 billion euros) and the possible impact on the environment and the landscape.
But perhaps the most important criticism comes from specialists in infrastructure and spatial development. “I don’t see it happening like that,” says Frans Sijtsma, economic geographer at the University of Groningen. “It is nice to have a fast connection, but for travelers it is above all about the frequency with which the trains can travel.”
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Thick and thin lines
To keep that frequency high, so-called ‘thick lines’ are needed: routes on which many people get on and off and it is therefore busy enough. That is crucial to make such a line profitable, says Sijtsma. “People only prefer the train to the car if that train leaves often. But this line goes through a fairly thin area. If too few people board, trains run less often and it becomes even more unattractive. A city like Drachten has developed without a track. and is located on a well-functioning highway.”
Another risk that Sijtsma sees is that the Lely Line can also have a negative impact on current rail connections. “Between Groningen and Zwolle there is now the ‘thickest’ connection with most travelers. You can enjoy something from there with the Lelylijn – where fewer trains will run in the long term. That often does not work out well.”
He advocates investing in a high-speed line with trains up to 300 kilometers per hour from Amsterdam, via Arnhem, to the densely populated German Ruhr area, where more than 5 million people live in 11 major cities. The idea is that many more people will travel along that route. This makes the train an attractive alternative to the plane.
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Zuiderzeelijn
The Lely line has a long history. A faster rail connection to the north has been debated for decades. In the eighties as well as at the beginning of this century, plans were worked out for the Zuiderzeelijn, the predecessor of the Lelylijn, which, despite strong lobbying from the north, was never realized.
In 2003 and 2004, urban planner Hugo Priemus was closely involved in the House of Representatives committee that investigated the financial feasibility of large infrastructure projects, such as the Betuwelijn, the HSL and also the never completed Zuiderzeelijn. “The conclusion was: the Zuiderzee line costs a lot of money and the returns are disproportionate. So it was a clumsy investment.”
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‘Things repeat themselves’
The emiritus professor is also critical of the Lely line. “It seems like things are repeating themselves. You can plan a lot as a government, but the north is simply less popular with people to settle, and there are too few large companies. It is a line of thinking that is very old: we’ll start with the infrastructure and then the rest will come naturally. That’s too weak an approach.”
This does not alter the fact that Priemus – just like economic geographer Sijtsma – is in favor of housing construction in the northern provinces. “You can actually predict that the colossal housing construction at the stops on the Lelylijn will not come,” says Priemus. “It is a strong example wishful thinking. The north especially wants to.”
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But the need for some people to live in rural areas does exist, he says. “So start by building houses at existing stops along the current track, where shops and facilities are already located. That would also improve the position of the north a bit. Then you don’t have a Lely line yet, but it is heading in that direction. .”
It is now up to the politicians to speak. On Thursday, the House of Representatives Committee on Infrastructure and Water Management will continue to debate large infrastructure projects. Then it may also become clearer about the feasibility and timeline of the Lely line.
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