Where in Zuidas
A third railway platform, alongside the two metro platforms, is part of a larger plan aimed at ensuring Amsterdam remains accessible by railway in the years ahead. Construction work on it cannot start until the A10 Zuid has been diverted into a tunnel at this location. Without that tunnel, there will be insufficient space for a third platform, with two additional railway tracks.
Preferential decision
The decision-making about a future third railway platform entered a new phase late last year, according to State Secretary Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management/I&W) in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives on 1 March. With the cooperation of ProRail and NS, the Ministry of I&W, the City of Amsterdam and the Vervoerregio Amsterdam (Amsterdam Regional Transport) have joined forces in reaching the so-called ‘Preferential decision on a MIRT national infrastructure investigation for a third platform at Amsterdam Zuid’. This decision follows on from an investigation started in 2018 and will make it possible for international high-speed trains to use Amsterdam Zuid station instead of Amsterdam Central Station.
Busy railways
The relocation of international railway traffic to Amsterdam Zuid station is part of a larger plan aimed at coping with the increasingly busy railways in the years ahead. This requires a new third railway platform with two railway tracks on the south side of Amsterdam Zuid station, including stairways, escalators and lifts. The current southern railway platform – which will be the central platform in the future – will then be modified to enable the arrival and departure of high-speed trains. On the south side, there are plans for a lounge underneath the new platform and a central platform to serve high-speed trains to non-Schengen countries. The lounge is intended for railway passengers departing to the United Kingdom (London) and the passenger and baggage checks will take place there. Trains to places like Brussels and Paris will also depart from the central platform, but passengers will use the normal entrances (without Customs).
Link with the A10 Zuid tunnel
The construction of a third railway platform and everything this involves is currently not part of the Zuidasdok project. However, by diverting the motorway into a tunnel near the station, Zuidasdok will make the third platform possible. The additional station passageway currently being built, the Brittenpassage, has already been fitted with a roof across which trains on the two additional tracks will run. The decision as to whether the third railway platform project is to be added to the Zuidasdok project will ultimately be made by 2027 at the latest. Alternatively, this may be done the other way around, with parts of Zuidasdok being added to the third platform project. Construction work on the third railway platform is not expected to start before 2030.
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