New line Zwolle to Lelystad

[radamfi]

The new 50 km line from Zwolle to Lelystad opens on 9 December, cutting the journey time between the west and the north of the country. I thought this might mess up the long standing connections but having looked at www.ns.nl it seems they have yet again managed to ensure short connection times on every combination of stations I tried, including the Berlin service.

 

[EWS 58038]

Can't wait for the line to open.... If I wish to visit a friend it will safe me 45 minutes compared to the current situation.

 

[Greenback]

I recall this new line being mentioned when I visited Lelystad back in the early 1990's. Good to see it has been constructed now.

 

[radamfi]

Free rides on the new line this Saturday:

http://nos.nl/artikel/448545-hanzelijn-officieel-geopend.html

 

[ChiefPlanner]

HS lines apart , is this the longest "new" route opened for many years ?

 

[radamfi]

HS lines apart , is this the longest "new" route opened for many years ?

The Betuweroute freight route is much longer, but I can't think of a recently built passenger line in Europe as long that isn't high speed.

 

[EWS 58038]

Actually this is High Speed as the route allows up to 200 km/h and is capable for 220 km/h running.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Would someone care to summarise the service structure now in use because when I went on it in mid-December, I couldn't really follow it? The through trains from Rotterdam to Groningen seem to have gone and been partially replaced by an IC from A'dam to Groningen which stops at lots of places and isn't really so fast. Then there's a 2x hour stopper as well and a whole further batch of ICs that start at Lelystad and eventually end up at Vlissingen via A'dam and Den Haag HS. And Zwolle has now become a massive interchange point, serving five different lines, attached to what is in reality quite a small town...

 

[radamfi]

There is no regular through train from Amsterdam Centraal to Groningen, but there is from Amsterdam Zuid.

Each of these trains runs every hour:

Den Haag Centraal - Schiphol - Amsterdam Zuid - Almere - Zwolle - Groningen
Den Haag Centraal - Schiphol - Amsterdam Zuid - Almere - Zwolle - Leewarden
Rotterdam Centraal - Utrecht - Zwolle - Groningen
Rotterdam Centraal - Utrecht - Zwolle - Leeuwarden

From Amsterdam Centraal, you change at Almere. So Amsterdam Centraal to Groningen requires either one change or two changes. It takes 2 hours 7 minutes whether you change once or twice.

Regardless of whether you change or not, it always takes the same time between Rotterdam and Groningen, Amsterdam and Groningen, Rotterdam and Leewarden, Amsterdam and Leeuwarden etc.