In the picture: first days of work on metro at Amsterdam Zuid station

In the very week when temperatures are reaching tropical heights, we’re working around the clock moving and raising the height of the tracks and platforms of the North/South metro line. First of all, in the night of 15-16 July, GVB removed the train safety equipment from the metro signalling and control system and the power supply was disconnected from the metro.

After that, contractor Heijmans was able to set to work on the tracks and platforms of the North/South line. Currently slightly lower than the railway tracks and platforms, these need to be raised to the same height. This is required for the renovation of the Minervapassage, the existing station entrance. To enable renovation work to happen, we first need to demolish the existing platforms.

Demolishing a platform produces quite a lot of rubble. We took away as many as 150 waste containers full of rubble via the narrow work site exit in Parnassusweg.

The North/South line will partly be above Beethovenstraat, on a bright yellow support structure. We moved the new platform section around 30 cm to the south, ensuring a good connection with the raised track. We also poured additional concrete to support the new bridge deck.

Amsterdam Zuid station will be a dead-end siding for the North/South line. There will be two tracks with space for both the departing and arriving metro line 52 at the same time. For this reason, we installed new switches next to Beethovenstraat on Sunday, 17 July. As a result, the railyard in Diemen will remain accessible for all metro trains even in the new situation.

Overnight, we installed retaining walls alongside the now demolished platform. This created a type of bath tub, into which we poured 2,500 cubic metres of sand. The new, raised platform will lie on top of this.

After the weekend, it was time to extend the track in the direction of Beethovenstraat. Slowly but surely, the new situation becomes visible.

In the days to come, we will be finishing work on the platform and testing the safety systems. All of this work will ensure that, by the morning of Saturday 23 July, the North/South line can continue to run its normal service. But this is not all we have ahead of us during this busy summer around Amsterdam Zuid station. Friday, 22 July will see the start of what could actually be the most exciting job of the summer: the 11-day closure of the A10 Zuid and the A4 from the Badhoevedorp interchange in the direction of Hengelo and Utrecht.