An alternative route is currently being studied for the not-yet-built Lille Railway, which passes not through Flevoland, but through the North Netherlands and over the Afsluytdijk.

Two potential railway routes from the Randstad to the Northern Provinces are already being studied, both passing through Flevoland which would significantly reduce travel time between the Randstad and the North.

The project team on behalf of the national government and the Northern Territories is investigating the impacts of the three approaches, for example, accessibility and economics. This should outline the preferred path and what funding for that path looks like.

The project team hopes to be able to demonstrate next spring which method “achieves better results” than the other. The research findings and estimated costs will then be submitted to the Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Water Management.

According to Stijn Lechner, project team manager, research is essential to make a good and accurate decision.

“We want to compare apples with apples and see if these other methods provide us with useful information about costs, passenger numbers and speed, for example,” he says. Broadcast Flevoland. “Then it is useful to look beyond just a route through Flevoland.

Lechner realizes that people find it strange that the road through Alkmaar is now also being investigated. “We still want to investigate it to see what information this gives us. It is possible that research will soon show that the route via Flevoland seems the most logical, but it is also possible that this is not the case.”

He doesn’t want to say which way he thinks has the best chances. “I don’t think it’s a good plan to determine in advance which roads have no or less chance,” he says. “Officials said the route should pass through Flevoland. We are checking whether we made the right decision.”