‘2024 is set to be quite a year for us’, says Zuidasdok community engagement manager Paul Kamermans. ‘We’ll be raising the height of the northern metro track between Beethovenstraat and Parnassusweg, and there’ll be a brand-new metro viaduct above Parnassusweg. We’re also adding new roof sections to the new Brittenpassage and the existing Minervapassage.’
Six weeks of work in the summer
For the Nieuw-Zuid Construction Consortium (Boskalis, Mobilis and Van Gelder), all of that means a year packed full of work in and around the station. The highlight will be a six-week period from 12 July until 25 August, when we will be working 24/7. ‘And, to top it all, at the end of the year we’ll be digging the last few metres of the Brittenpassage’, adds Kamermans. ‘Right through to the exit in Eduard van Beinumstraat on the north side of the passageway.’
First half of 2024
New metro viaduct in Parnassusweg
In the first five months of the year, we will be moving cables and pipelines in Parnassusweg and making major progress in the construction of the interim support for the new metro viaduct. Before the summer, we will therefore be positioning foundation piles, reinforcement cages and sheet piling on the east side of Parnassusweg as part of the foundations for the support. The new viaduct will be above Parnassusweg, between the two existing metro viaducts. As a result, the previously-removed connection with the railway yard in Amstelveenseweg will be reinstated and we will also make it possible to extend the North/South metro line in a westerly direction in the future.
Brittenpassage
A short distance away from Parnassusweg, we will be working on the new station passageway, the Brittenpassage. There are dozens of steel support pillars in the ground there, which together form the course across which we moved all of the roof sections for the new passageway into their position. At the start of 2024, we sawed off these supports in order to build several large footings (very sturdy concrete structures). These will form the foundations for the wide columns that will ultimately support the roof.
Cables and pipelines in Brittenpassage
Of course, the new passageway will not be able to operate without running water, drainage and electricity. In April 2024, we will begin extending all of the cables and pipelines from the integrated cable and pipeline tunnel (ILT) underneath Gustav Mahlerlaan, via the square to the southern Brittenpassage entrance. To do this, we will dig up (sections of) the square in phases. These works will last well beyond the summer and are expected to be completed in the summer of 2025. As a result, pedestrians in Gustav Mahlerplein will encounter plenty of temporary footways.
Minervapassage
On the other side of the station, we will continue working on the renovation of the existing station entrance, the Minervapassage. In the spring, we will start by installing foundation piles into the ground and moving the existing cables and pipelines to enable us to build a new support in the northern part of the passageway later. This is almost identical to the work done last year, when we built a similar support in the Minervapassage. In May, we will pour the concrete for the roof section that will be placed on top of this support later in the summer.
Summer work from 12 July until 25 August 2024
The preparatory works in the first half of the year will culminate in six weeks of work in the summer. During this period, we will be working 24/7. The northern metro track (metro 50 and 51 in the direction of Isolatorweg) will be taken completely out of service and there will be various closures of the A10 in the direction of the A4/Schiphol. We will provide details of any disruption in due course.
Increasing the height of the northern metro track and platform
We will demolish the northern metro track and platform and rebuild them around 2 m higher. This will be done across the whole length of the station between Parnassusweg and Beethovenstraat. As a result, three of the four metro tracks and platforms will be at the height required for the Minervapassage (once renovated). At 4.5 m, that will be twice as high as the existing Minervapassage, which is currently 2.5 m in height.
Positioning of roof sections
This summer, in both the Brittenpassage and the Minervapassage, new roof sections will be put into position on the supports that are being built in the first half of 2024. The roof section for the Minervapassage will probably be put in place in early August. We will start by moving it slightly to the east, on top of the existing deck between the glass domes. It will then move several metres to the north reaching under the northern metro track, the height of which will have been raised by that time. As you would expect, all this can be monitored via our webcam.
Completely excavated Brittenpassage
The shifting operation for the Brittenpassage is scheduled for around the end of July – when the seventh and final roof section will be moved into position. After putting the final roof section into position, we will excavate the last few metres of the Brittenpassage, to reach the new entrance in the now demolished Atrium garage. This will be followed in the autumn by a symbolic highlight featuring a ‘handshake’: the south and north side of the Brittenpassage will be united. The new passageway will see the light of day from both sides for the first time: from Benjamin Brittenstraat and Arnold Schönberglaan in the south and Eduard van Beinumstraat in the north.
After the summer: temporary railway platforms become permanent
Of course, the work will also continue after the summer. In November, for example, when we will complete work on the removable platforms between the two passageways, making them permanent. This will pave the way for the opening of the Brittenpassage by 2027 at the latest, when this will serve as the main passenger entrance to the station and railway platforms. There will be a reduced railway service for nine days for these works. Further information on that will also follow later in the year.
Regeneration of Amsterdam Zuid station in 2024
Work on the renovation and expansion of Amsterdam Zuid station has been ongoing since 2018. In 2024, the structural work on the second station passageway is taking place and work is being done to bring the most northerly metro track to the right position and height.
Take a look at how we are regenerating the station in phases (in Dutch)
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