New tramline to Uithoorn inaugurated

Regular tram operations have started on the Uithoornlijn on Sunday 21 July 2024 after the celebration inauguration the day before. The Uithoornlijn is the 5 km long extension from Amstelveen Westwijk tram stop to the town of Uithoorn (South from the Amsterdam agglomeration) and part of the Amsterdam tram network. Between trams stops Amstelveen Westwijk and the new terminus tram stop at Uithoorn, i. e. Uithoorn Centrum, the new line is positioned on the former alignment of the single track railway line between Uithoorn and Bovenkerk, a line of the former and closed-down Haarlemmermeer railway network.

The tram line is electrified double track. In between Amstelveen and Uithoorn the maximum operational speed is 70 km/h and 50 km/h in urban area. There are three tram stops, all in Uithoorn: Aan de zoom, Uithoorn Station (at the bus station) and terminus tram stop with two dead end tracks at Uithoorn Centrum at the old, former railway station. Between tram stop Uithoorn Centrum and Uithoorn Station the tram line is in a bus-only lane, the rest of the line the tram is separated from road traffic.

There are line signals for the tram. Level crossings with roads and pedestrian/bicycle routes have sound, lights and barriers. At the northside of Uithoorn the tram crosses the national route N201 road on a viaduct. In the center of Uithoorn the tram (on the bus lane) crosses a road underneath a viaduct.

The new project Uithoornlijn includes doubling of the capacity of the tram stabling yard just south of Amstelveen Westwijk. At the stabling yard tram washing hall has been built and an installation for providing sand to the trams. All equipment has been selected based on the highest state of sustainability.

Uithoorn is served by Amsterdam public transport operator GVB tram line 25, which has been extended from the previous terminus tram stop Amstelveen Westwijk. The tram is called ‘Amsteltram’. Line 25 has its northern terminus at (Amsterdam) Station Zuid (as pairs of coupled trams cannot run in the city center of Amsterdam) in Amsterdam where is the railway station Amsterdam Zuid, the new main station to be at the Amsterdam capital. It takes half an hour to travel from Uithoorn to Station Zuid in Amsterdam.

The new Uithoorn tramline is only accessible for Type 15G/Urbos 100 bidirectional low floor trams (manufactured by CAF). Other types of trams, currently only Siemens Mobility built Combino low floor trams are not authorized to run on the line. The line 25 operations will take place with pairs of coupled trams GVB Type 15G (CAF built Urbos 100 articulated, bidirectional low floor trams, each 32.4 m long, 2.40m wide).

However, the start of operations is with single trams only after a derailment of two coupled trams has taken place during driver training when they entered slowly the tram stabling yard. The cause of derailment has not been found yet. As the start is in the summer period, in which the demand for public transport is lower than in non-holiday periods, the capacity of a single tram is expected to be sufficient while GVB counts on operations with pairs of trams starting from 1 September 2024.

During peak hours, the frequency is 6 tram services per hour, in off-peak hours five and in the evening there is a 15 minute interval. On working days tram services start at 05.00 from Uithoorn and at 05.37 from Station Zuid (Amsterdam). In the weekend the start is roughly one hour later. When the standard timetable becomes as of 1 September 2024, during entire daytime there will be a 10-minute interval while in the late evening there will be four trams per hour. At Station Zuid there is an interchange with the railway system (station Amsterdam Zuid), metro lines 50, 51 and 52 and tram line 5. Due to the extension of tramline 25 changes are made to the surrounding bus network.

The greater Amsterdam public transport authority Stadsregio Amsterdam decided in May 2016 to extend the then ‘Amstelveenlijn’ line (Station Zuid, Amsterdam-Westwijk, Amstelveen) at the cost of 60 million EUR. Construction works started in 2018 after finalizing all proceedings. In the meantime the Amstelveenlijn line has been converted into a line for low floor city trams only in 2019 - 2020 and terminating high floor hybrid light rail/metro sets operations.

The line was handed over from the constructors to Amsterdam city transport operator GVB on 17 March 2024, after which test operations aiming on placing in service, started. Opening of the Uithoornlijn tram line took place on 21 July 2024. After the conversion of the Amstelveenlijn and the opening of the Uithoorn tram line, the tram services will be branded ‘Amsteltram’, named after the nearby river which gave its name to the Dutch capital too.

Quintus Vosman