Noord – Zuid (South) metro line project was completed in January and is now preparing for tests. The placing in service of trains with passengers is scheduled for 22 July. The 9.8-km railway connects Amsterdam Zuid Station to the suburbs located north of Ij River.
According to initial estimates, the new metro line should have been inaugurated in 2011, but works have been delayed for a long period of time because of the difficult tunnel boring conditions. Thus, the final cost of the entire project has increased significantly from EUR 1.4 billion to EUR 3.1 billion.
Moreover, digging the six kilometres of tunnel under the city centre has required the implementation of innovative construction measures, including freezing the difficult terrain to stabilize it, but also excavating tunnels under pressure.
Noord – Zuid line has eight new metro stations: Amsterdam Noord, Noorderpark, Centraal Station, Rokin, Vijzelgracht, De Pijp, Europaplein and Zuid. At the Centraal Station and Zuid Station passengers have links to other metro lines in Amsterdam, but also connections to the suburban rail network, operated by Dutch Railways.
Amsterdam Municipality plans to increase investments in the metro network, so it is currently analysing the possibility to build a railway that would cross the city from east to west. This project has an estimated cost of EUR 7 billion.
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