THE outgoing Dutch cabinet has selected 10 projects to receive funding through the National Growth Fund, including two rail projects; an extension of the Amsterdam metro line North-South line from the south of Amsterdam to Schiphol Airport and track quadrupling of the Delft - Schiedam line on the Amsterdam Central- Haarlem- Rotterdam Central line.
The Netherlands government established the fund in 2020 as a means to spur Dutch GDP growth through investments in innovation and by accelerating planned infrastructure projects. The rail projects will receive €2.5bn of the €4bn allocated to the 10 projects.
Amsterdam’s North-South metro line opened in 2018 and the extension to Schiphol is set to receive €1.5bn, or around half of its estimated total cost from the fund.
The Delft - Schiedam line upgrade will receive around €1bn. The upgraded railway will support plans to solve the urgent need for housing in the Southern Randstad area comprising The Hague and Rotterdam.
Dutch lobby group The Mobility Alliance, with which public transport operators and Netherlands Railways (NS) are cooperating, welcomes the decision by the Dutch government, stating that it is recognition of the need to invest in transport infrastructure.
The National Growth Fund has a budget of up to €20bn until 2026.
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