The design of light rail lines in the Netherlands is influenced greatly by municipal interests, that endanger the function of the regional connecting public transport. A method and a stepwise plan for the design of suburban and regional public transport lines, as well as the main characteristics with regard to speed, station spacing, occupancy, capacity and comfort is proposed. The aim is to maintain the minimal requirements of high quality public transport lines. The design of RandstadRail in The Hague consists of a number of sharp bends, where the speed must be limited to 40 km/h and is diverted from the straight alignment because of unknown reasons. The connection of the metro Rotterdam to The Hague Central Station seems to be unnecessary from a transport planning view and requires unnecessarily space and extra costs. In Rotterdam, preference is given to an alignment option of a 3 km long bored tunnel that is far away from the centre of Rotterdam North. The long transfer distances between metro and the platforms of the Dutch Railways are maintained, while much more direct and cheap alternatives via the Spoorsingel or by connection with the upgraded TramPlus are being rejected. The most important aim of RandstadRail, to achieve a significant modal shift in favour of sustainable modes of transport, is being undermined by the selfish plans of cities that do not accept the regional connecting transport function within their own municipality. The government can tame this kind of particularity interests by establishing the minimal standards for the design of public transport lines. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E206647.
Abstract