News and In depth
Blogs and opinion
A test drive of the tram to Utrecht Central, photo DUB
Tram may not run until December
Not in this month, and in all probability not even in the fall; the first passengers cannot, as it appears now, check in until December for tram 22: The Uithof-line that will run between Utrecht Central Station and Utrecht Science Park.
Read in Dutch
By Gwenda Knobel, Translation Minthe Woudstra
The mayor and aldermen sent this message to the Utrecht city council last Friday. According to the letter (in Dutch, ed), this is partly due to an increasing number of failures. Because of this, the previously indicated date of July 29 cannot be achieved. The tram connection must be introduced at a time when it is not extremely busy. Therefore, the autumn holidays or December, when the winter timetable starts, are now being considered. The Commission considers the latter date most likely.
In recent months, public transport passengers between Utrecht Central Station and Utrecht Science Park became hopeful that the trip between the station and De Uithof could be made by tram at the start of the new academic year. In this case, the tram would only run six times instead of twelve times per hour, so that bus 12 would continue to run alongside the tram, DUB reported on June 19. In December, the full timetable would start, including the extra rush-hour trips. Now, the municipality reports that this is probably not feasible either.
According to the letter from the municipal administration, four conditions must still be met before the tram can start traveling with passengers. The most important thing, perhaps, is that there are still too many failures on the route at the moment, which causes the timetable to be disrupted too much. In addition, permits, protocols and agreements must still be granted and adjusted. The tram can only be able to run on July 29 if these conditions will be met on July 16. However, this is difficult to achieve and therefore it is possible that it will be moved to a later date.
Fancy tram finally running
Never again stuffed into a packed bus 12
Oscar Wildebeest
About DUB