Hoekse Lijn Metro

Thanks for the update. Permission to extend to the beach but do they have the finance in place too? The story was the beach bit was 'de-scoped' due to all the problems encountered so far.

 

Thanks again. Hopefully the funding gap will be bridged. Most people pass through the Hook but it is worth spending a bit of time there. The lifeboat museum is interesting in itself.

 

According to Wiki they should run from December 2018 (but you never know) to Hoek van Holland Haven. Hoek van Holland Strand in 2021.

 

You have to wonder if it was really worth all that money and time, the sprinter service seemed to work well enough all the way to the beach....

 

Hoek van Holland Strand NS station was a long way from the beach. If the Metro gets there, it will be right by the beach. The rail replacement bus service currently goes to the beach.

 

Once, years ago, when BR ran ferries and shared this line with the Dutch Zeeland Steamship Comp, the trains- what is now the end- DID run as far as the then beach. I grew up very nearby there. and we often went there on dads bike.
However, after they extended the long piers to protect the canaf from sanding in, the beach was then also partly artficially extended with sand blown in and partly by natural ways as the currents brought more sand in. Thats why the beach got further and further away from the tracks.
When finally running it will run into Rotterdam centre (change for NS at Schiedam)-similar to the converted former oldest electric railline (and much neglected after) from Rotterdam to den Haag via Pijnacker.

 

New estimation of running is January 2019. Just heard on the radio.

 

Also a longer story (in Dutch) here: https://www.ad.nl/rotterdam/hoekse-lijn-rijdt-op-zijn-vroegst-eind-januari~ae96a280/

roughly summarised (Dutch speakers, feel free to correct!):
Software problems, new programming (software) delivered no earlier than 5 November, and a minimum of 11 weeks to do test runs.

 

The railwaytrack is also open to freight till Maassluis. Hoek van Holland can also, but later or never.

 

Freight in the Metro line?

 

Yes, the line between Schiedam and Maassluis will be used by some freight services. This will happen at night, when metro trains aren't running.

 

I have just watched a moving metro train from the deck of Stena Hollandica. The platform display at Hoek van Holland Haven was also showing trains due in three, six and nine minutes. It looks like they are simulating a full service so hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer. It won’t be a moment too soon, the bus replacement is a pain in the behind.

I’m curious if the beach extension is still expected to go ahead. The former through platforms have become a wasteland and the metro line terminates in a dead end platform alongside the ferry terminal. Restoring the connection to the beach will require considerable work as a result. Far more work than it would need if the current layout had been arranged to facilitate future extension.

 

Last week a new issue was uncovered, relating to the closing times of level crossings. There has been an incident where the barriers at a LC weren't fully lowered yet while a metro train passed. This has an impact on the service authorisation.

The extension to the beach is still planned, but because the whole project is delayed this extension has been pushed back as well. Service to the beach are now expected to start operating in 2021 (this was planned for 2019).

 

How will the conversion to metro affect Rail Sail tickets? When I did the Harwich->Hoek trip a few years ago, I was given two NS day passes (which was an unexpected bonus as I was staying in Rotterdam but doing some other travel around the Netherlands while I was there - I bought a ticket from Hoek->Rotterdam and kept the day passes for future use). Will this still be the case, and the NS day tickets will now be valid on the Rotterdam metro?

 

You now get a combined NS/RET ticket. See this for a picture of the ticket:

https://travel.stackexchange.com/qu...e-lijn-to-metrolijn-b-affect -rail-sail-tickets

It is valid on the whole RET network, not just for connection to the railway.

 

The latest update: it's uncertain if the metro trains will run when the beach season starts (May 2019). This is due to the earlier mentioned LC issue, but also because of frequent train-track communication issues, which brings trains to a standstill.

 

What's going to happen to all the other platforms at Hook van Holland Haven?

I believe there were 6 at one point, but only 3 in use towards the end of rail operation? If they're now down to 1 the place is going to look a bit derelict.

 

The old station area is already derelict. There are 2 new platforms, pretty basic stuff.

 

Where are the 2 new platforms in relation to the old area?

 

One is essentially the former terminating spoor 3, directly alongside the ferry terminal building, albeit shortened. The other platform is offset from the end of it, in much the same way as platforms 1&2 at Clapham Junction are set up, if you’re familiar with that.

I’ve just checked Google Earth and their current satellite image shows the final layout pretty well. There is now no trace of the former international terminating platforms or the old through platforms 1&2. The old beach line has been severed at the level crossing but seems intact beyond there.

 

Thanks.

Seems an odd way to do things if they do intend to carry on to the beach!

 

The beach extension isn't part of the initial project as it wasn't part of the funding package.

It's a relatively big project, as it involves moving Hoek van Holland Strand station from its current location (where the beach once was) to a new location at the start of the beach. This means building 1km of new tracks, building a new station, and dealing with people living close to the railway.

 

Some people are getting desperate about the Hoekse Lijn. On the website of Rijnmond.nl (Rijnmond is roughly the area from Rotterdam west to the Northsea). If you search for Sandy Struijs on that website you hear her complaints about the line. The melody is taken from In the navy by The Village People. It seems to be still a positive song.

 

So I take it there's still no word of an opening date? I've been avoiding the Hoek ferry until I can be confident of not having to get a bus either from Rotterdam or indeed at Harwich (I presume they did finally sort that ridiculous farce with the boarding arrangements at HPQ?).

 

Nope. Nothing new to report.

 

The linkspan at Harwich was finally repaired at the second attempt a while back now.

The bus service to Schiedam on the Dutch side is not really a problem unless you get travel sick on buses. The fast bus runs non-stop. Quite why people see a bus as the Devil’s transport is a bit of a mystery, certainly not worth avoiding the ferry for. More inconvenient for the locals that live there though, who must be fed up of the saga of trying to extend the Rotterdam metro.

 

For me the issue (Harwich problems aside) has been more the poor interchange arrangements and info at the Schiedam end, especially if one is on an international ticket, in particular in light of the paucity / absence of staff (RET or NS) and the need to get through those ghastly barriers. The first time I did it towards Hoek, it was pure chance that I found the (very inconveniently located) bus stop, after having "tailgated" somebody through the barrier.