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track through the centre of Leiden would mean that the travel time for people who have a destination outside Leiden would be significantly longer, and this course had repercussions for the passenger forecast. These estimates were repeatedly reduced. The most recent forecasts a ridership of 50,000 passengers — 42,000 more than in the busiest tram line in
Amsterdam (number 5). On the route Leiden-Katwijk/Noordwijk the number of passengers would only be slightly higher than on the current bus network.
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were due for completion in late 2015. Completion depended on financial support from the national government, and in the autumn of 2009, State
Secretary of Transport Tineke Huizinga indicated that the line to Katwijk would cost €45 million. The line to Noordwijk was to be served by buses in the meantime.
854:
station at
Sassenheim. In Katwijk there was opposition against the branch to Katwijk aan Zee. In both communities the tram line would have to be imposed by the provincial government, as had happened earlier in Leiden. In the autumn of 2009 the national government provided €45 million for the line to
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respectively. In 2005, an agreement was signed between all municipalities except the municipality of Leiden to share the costs of the project, with the national government and province covering a large part of the construction cost, and the county bearing all risks for the operation of the line. The
765:
People soon began to oppose the RGL. Tram traffic was seen as a hazard for cyclists and pedestrians. There was also criticism of the high construction cost of the project. In the 90s it was budgeted for 450 million guilders (€222 million), but by 2007 the amount had risen to €470 million. There were
931:
With the route through the
Hooigracht/Langegracht in Leiden decided (2008), and the decision of the provincial government on the western route, the future of the RGL was a little clearer, but that did not mean that all obstacles have been overcome. The municipality of Noordwijk refused to cooperate
783:
The section between Gouda and Leiden was originally scheduled to be inaugurated in 2005. This was later postponed to 2007 and later to 2015, simultaneously with western section. From 2003 to 2009 light rail vehicles were used on the existing railway between Gouda and Alphen aan den Rijn. The future
812:
Whereas the tram in the initial proposal would go through
Steenstraat/3e Binnenvestgracht Stationsweg to the station, it was to go through the Lammermarkt and Schuttersveld. According to the last urban vision, the tram would cross the railway in the Rijnsbruger Tunnel instead of the Joop Walenkamp
774:
In the 1990s it was projected that approximately 78,000 passengers a day would use the RGL (total number for the system Gouda-Katwijk/Noordwijk). Despite the negative impact on the bus network in favor of the RGL it was expected that the accessibility of central Leiden would be greatly improved. A
741:
In the 1960s, 70s and 80s plan were often put forward for the tram to return to the previous sections of the Blue and Yellow Tram. The first ideas for the RGL were presented in the early 90s by
Boudewijn Leeuwenburgh, the former district chief of NZH. The tram system was initially intended to be a
729:
From 2003 to 2009 there was test traffic with light rail vehicles on the heavy rail track from Gouda to Alphen aan den Rijn. The RGL was divided into two sub-projects: RGL-East (Gouda-Leiden
Transferium 't Schouw A44) and RGL-West (Leiden Transferium 't Schouw A44-Katwijk/Noordwijk), both of which
804:
as a city tram to Leiden
Central Station. This process was controversial, especially regarding safety, cost and impact on cyclists and the bus network. Especially controversial was a single track section through the Breestraat. Therefore, in addition to the original plan several alternative plans
808:
These alternative plans were shown to be three to four times more expensive than the originally proposed route through the city centre. On 7 March 2007 a referendum was held in Leiden, on the arrival of the RGL to Leiden (a specific route was not mentioned in the referendum question). 69% of the
680:
was in favour of this, but based on a referendum in March 2007 among the Leiden population, the municipality was against it. The province threatened to force the municipality to accept a trajectory through Leiden. Following that, the municipality agreed to accept the RGL through the city. The
910:
The operation suffered from frequent signal interference caused by malfunctioning axle counters and/or ATP-NG-train security. Soon the RGL got a bad reputation because of the cancellation of a large number of journeys. However the number of passengers per day, around 5,000, during the period
809:
Leiden inhabitants voted 'no' to the proposal. Accordingly, the town rejected the RGL, but the province threatened to impose the tram line anyway. This led a majority of the politicians in Leiden to accept, in 2008, an alternative route of the RGL, through
Hooigracht/Langegracht.
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fears of cuts in city and regional bus networks. Furthermore, there was doubt about the effectiveness of the RGL. The critics were in favour of extending the rail line from Leiden to
Utrecht, and investment in dedicated bus lanes on the route from Leiden to Katwijk and Noordwijk.
805:
were developed. In one of those alternatives the RGL would follow the existing route of the railway line all the way to Leiden Centraal, or to a point near the station. The railway would be doubled, and perhaps be moved to a concrete overpass above the current track.
858:
In June 2009, a preferred route was approved by the Provincial Council of South Holland. Both Katwijk and Noordwijk got a tram to the coast. However, the province addressed the concerns of Katwijk and routed the line not on the Boulevard but to finish in Badstraat.
911:
2003-2009 was stable, despite a large increase in many other rail routes in the Randstad. The six light rail vehicles purchased for the test eventually proved inadequate, also because of the large number of problems they faced.
845:
In Katwijk and Noordwijk there was much opposition to the tram plans, both among the general population and in the town councils. Neither community wanted tram traffic in the town centres. For Noordwijk it would end at the
879:. The grey and blue trams were fitted with yellow stickers to resemble NS "Sprinter" trains. On 13 December 2009, the trial ended and "Sprinter" trains took over the line. The A32 trams were sold to Stockholm.
903:
a new 4LR wooden platform was built along the old freight track. There is a fence between the two separate tracks, to improve driver safety as the cab door opens directly onto the track, not on the platform.
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Because the trains are wider than the A32 trams, extra warning stripes were placed along the platforms to warn passengers of the height/width difference in alighting and boarding.
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For Leiden, the plan was to have new track through the centre (Breestraat) at street level (alternatives that were proposed were around the centre on existing track, or in a
615:
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In March 2003 test traffic was started between Gouda and Alphen aan den Rijn with light rail equipment on existing rail tracks, largely using RGL vehicles. These were
940:
On Wednesday 30 January 2013, the provincial government chose to stop this version of the RGL project. Instead, there were to be more trains, stations and buses.
923:
the train timetables could be improved. A more direct train service between Gouda and Leiden Centraal was introduced, decreasing the travel time by 8 minutes.
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on the border with Katwijk. The municipalities presented an alternative alignment of the RGL. The RGL Noordwijk-Binnen would run to Voorhout station and the
919:
In August 2009 it was announced that the proposed precursor of the RGL on the Gouda-Alphen route would disappear as of 13 December 2009, because using only
984:(Dutch, with summary in English). Because the official website has been removed, this link refers to the last available version on the Internet Archive.
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In the beginning they were used on the regular railway service between Gouda and Alphen aan den Rijn. The stations were adapted by adding new low-level
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and several parties in the city council of Leiden remained fiercely opposed to the RGL (including D66 and SP, never strong supporters of the RGL).
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726:, either as extensions to existing high-level platforms or by building them on the opposite side of the track to the high-level platforms.
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Long before there was light rail, some of the tracks had tram traffic. In the 1960s, Leiden had the Blue and Yellow Tram lines.
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The RGL would have been the first system in the Netherlands where light rail vehicles shared heavy rail tracks with heavy rail
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From 2003 to 2009 light rail vehicles operated on the Gouda–Alphen aan den Rijn railway, sharing these tracks with regular
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tunnel, implying the removal of the bicycle lane and taxi stop. After Leiden Centraal station, the line would pass the
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the island platform was considerably extended and this is the only concrete platform apart from the platform at
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western branch of the RGL was also important for the opening of the new building located on the former
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Katwijk, but not to Noordwijk. There is a gap of €55 million, for which a solution had to be found.
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province and municipality then agreed that the route would follow Hooigracht and Langegracht.
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much larger light rail network, with branches to Leiderdorp, the district of Ridderveld in
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the existing platform was extended with a low wooden platform. At
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From Transferium 't Schouw A44, the RGL would go as light rail to
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and the Bio Science Park, reaching Transferium 't Schouw.
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via Voorschoten. None of the ideas have been implemented.
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stock. As of 2013, only NS stock is used on the railway.
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The original plan was that the RGL should continue from
754:, for example by establishing the trajectory of Leiden-
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Eastern section (Gouda - Alphen aan den Rijn - Leiden)
707:. The usage of the designation A32 is originally from
750:. There were also suggestions to link the RGL to
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821:Western section (Leiden - Katwijk / Noordwijk)
848:European Space Research and Technology Centre
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618:. However, the new section might have used
53:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
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699:The light-rail vehicles used were of the
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
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16:Proposed rail project in the Netherlands
871:A32s, a model that is also used on the
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863:Test traffic with light rail vehicles
676:through the centre). The province of
51:adding citations to reliable sources
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802:Leiden Lammenschans railway station
786:Leiden Lammenschans railway station
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982:Official website (April 14, 2012)
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998:Railway lines in the Netherlands
815:Leiden University Medical Center
688:and then used the new tracks to
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1003:Light rail in the Netherlands
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827:Katwijk aan den Rijn
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955:Alphen aan den Rijn
901:Alphen aan den Rijn
875:light rail line in
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45:Please help
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915:End of test
889:Waddinxveen
651:SaarbrĂĽcken
608:Netherlands
602:project in
573:Gouwe river
571:across the
569:swingbridge
390:Waddinxveen
155:Track gauge
992:Categories
869:Bombardier
756:Zoetermeer
734:Background
643:tram-train
600:light rail
582:(English:
478:Line from
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261:Line from
77:newspapers
887:In North
877:Stockholm
873:Tvärbanan
835:Noordwijk
770:Ridership
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713:Stockholm
694:Noordwijk
647:Karlsruhe
622:instead.
480:Rotterdam
149:Technical
34:does not
944:See also
921:Sprinter
748:Schiphol
661:through
614:and the
526:Line to
457:Den Haag
309:Line to
178: in
965:Katwijk
893:Boskoop
690:Katwijk
655:Germany
528:Utrecht
340:Boskoop
315:Woerden
311:Utrecht
173:⁄
91:scholar
55:removed
40:sources
960:Leiden
927:Future
744:Alphen
717:Sweden
705:Vienna
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667:Leiden
639:trains
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235:Legend
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659:Gouda
590:Gouwe
586:Rhine
505:Gouda
98:JSTOR
84:books
833:and
746:and
649:and
592:Line
584:The
578:The
313:via
70:news
38:any
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