Plans for the Lelylijn railway line extending into the northern Netherlands must also take into account the feasibility of a tunnel under Ketelmeer for trains and cars.
The province insists on this in a draft letter addressed to the Lelylijn Steering Group. This will be discussed with the county council on Wednesday. The Steering Group asks governments and other stakeholders to respond to the so-called Lilly Line Lines of Thought and Scenarios by May. In the future, the railway should extend from Lelystad to Groningen and Leeuwarden.
The tunnel under Ketelmeer is one of the things the province is missing from the plans. More attention should also be paid to connecting the Lely Line to the existing route. There are already bottlenecks between Almere and Amsterdam, which will increase as the number of trains via the Night Line increases. That's why the province points to the importance of the IJmeer connection for rail relief in the Randstad.
The boycott's condition is that the Lily line should stop in any case at Almere Centrum, Lelystad and at the future Emmelord station. Only then will the Lilly Line have added value for Flevoland, according to the draft letter.
Reducing impacts on the living environment
The county also stipulates that the Lilly Line must have as few negative impacts on the residential environment as possible. Where possible, the railway should be integrated with existing roads, so that consequences on the landscape are limited.
Different variants of new high voltage cables for the power grid must also be taken into account. Finally, Flevoland lacks attention to the impacts of the Lille Line on the development of North Holland in the very long term after 2050.
More homes and jobs
In its “Thinking Directions” for different scenarios, the Lelylijn Steering Group estimated that railway construction in the North of the Netherlands could create between 66,000 and 100,000 new homes and 62,000 to 125,000 jobs.
The State Committee of the Provincial Council will discuss the draft letter on Wednesday. In December, the states had already adopted a proposal from the BBB, Christian Union and CDA to specifically include Ketelbrug regeneration in Flevoland's long-term plans.
