Final part of work on RAI begins

The other, more substantial, work involved the renovation of the station itself, completed in May 2020, and the development of the area around the new hotel nhow right next to RAI. Work was also done on the tunnel under Europaboulevard, in which all of the paths were straightened, creating a safer and less confusing situation. ‘An area like this is always in development, so it’s never completely finished. But we’ve made real progress that will set us up for the years ahead’, says De Groot.

The work schedule for the next six weeks will involve sorting out the area directly around the station and the new bicycle park. De Groot: ‘At the moment, it doesn’t look so good because there are still some height differences and a zebra crossing painted on a footpath, for example. By re-paving and adding new road markings, we’ll ensure it all makes sense again. On one side, you’ll soon have the new street paving linking to the station and the bicycle park and on the other side, it connects to the newly-landscaped green design around the nhow hotel.’

Another thing that will make it look better, will be the removal of all the bicycle racks around the station. De Groot: ‘Of course, there is now a great, and bigger, bicycle park where people can leave their bikes. The advantage is that it’s also guarded and the first 24 hours are free.’ Most of the work will be carried out on weekdays. In order to cause as little inconvenience as possible to travellers, the work will take place in the summer holidays and we expect to have it done by mid-August. The station will be accessible at all times and tram 4 and bus 62 will run their normal service. If you are a cyclist or pedestrian, you can simply go straight past, although cyclists obviously need to dismount.