The question remains whether the proposal from all political parties in the municipal council to wait another two years before redesigning the metro network makes sense. Councilor and Transport Regional Director Melanie van der Horst did not want to go into depth about it this evening. However, she emphasized again that she believes some form of ‘unbundling’ is needed.
At the end of February, the Transport Region, a transport partnership between Amsterdam and surrounding municipalities, distributed a document in which: there was talk of unbundling. This means that fewer metro lines run on the same track and the number of metros on the same line can therefore increase. The result is that some Amsterdam residents have to transfer because they lose their direct line.
Council members and residents of Zuidoost fear that this means that the direct metro line from Gaasperplas to Central Station will disappear. That was why all political parties made the decision last week during the city council meeting a proposal adopted to ‘take the time during the first two years of the concession to develop the unbundling process and the various scenarios for this’ and therefore not immediately cancel the direct connection.
“I stand side by side with residents, if it is proposed again, we will be there again”
Erik Bobeldijk, SP
Tonight the subject was discussed during a meeting of the so-called regioraad discussed. SP councilor Erik Bobeldijk said that municipal councilors had ‘unanimously’ decided to keep the metro line. He was then corrected by coalition council members Elisabeth IJmker (GroenLinks) and Elise Moeskops (D66), who emphasized that it was not necessarily about preserving the line, but about developing different plans. “I stand side by side with residents, if it is proposed again, we will be there again,” Bobeldijk responded.
“I understand it all very well that we have to take the time, that there are different ways of doing it and that we have to talk about it very carefully,” Van der Horst replied. “I also understand the sensitivities. However, the situation will not be as it is now in five years. That will be really different. If we want to entice more people to take the metro, we will have to increase the frequencies.”
“Please also give us the opportunity to take note of the letter and respond to it”
Melanie van der Horst, Transport Region director
In addition, Van der Horst reiterated that the use of public transport is growing by 40 percent and that more metros will therefore have to run, because otherwise ‘it really is no longer a comfortable journey for anyone’. She did say that the executive board of the Transport Region the letter from the council members has not yet formally read it. “I have not yet been able to discuss it with my colleagues. So I think we should be careful not to have a discussion that is a little too early in time. Please also give us the opportunity to take note of the letter and to respond to that.”
The plans are far from finalized. Council members are now passing on their wishes and concerns and the municipality itself will also provide advice. The CFP will ultimately have to show what unbundling looks like. The disappearance of the direct connection from the Gaasperplas to Central Station had also been on the table in recent years, but a final decision was postponed.
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2024-03-05 21:51:00
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