The Challenge
Rail capacity, routes through Nijmegen station and holding provision no longer meet the demands and requirements of the modern era.
Rail capacity, routes through Nijmegen station and holding provision no longer meet the demands and requirements of the modern era.
The station, the track layout and train holding capacity are being modified, creating a new rail hub.
Passengers from Nijmegen will benefit from faster and more frequent trains, as well as a hub that is enjoyable to use and fit for purpose.
Nijmegen station has been operating at the limits of its capacity for years. Rail capacity, routes through the station and holding provision have long been unfit to meet the demands and requirements of the modern era. And because Nijmegen station is an important railway hub with a busy direct connection to Schiphol Airport, there was a lot of work to do.
Railway infrastructure manager ProRail is rebuilding Nijmegen station as part of the national Hoogfrequent Spoor (PHS) (high-frequency rail) program. To enable more passengers to be transported comfortably, ProRail is modifying the station, the track layout and train holding capacity. The platform tunnel to the west side of the station will be extended all the way through to a new main entrance. An additional center platform and new switch points will be installed and the current passenger tunnel will be extended. Various planning studies are being carried out before the project can begin, since rail and transfer adjustments and the routing studies require a great deal of coordination between the different parties involved.
Over the next few years, Arcadis will support ProRail as the changes are rolled out across Nijmegen station and its railway yard. We are involved in all aspects of the project, from assisting during the planning phase right through to project implementation. The railway infrastructure and station will remain in use during the project.
We will deploy 3D BIM (Building Information Modeling) for the integrated design and resolution of the transfer bottlenecks. This digital and three-dimensional system maps the effects of the solutions at a much earlier stage, which means that the required materials and costs of the project can be assessed more accurately.
More than 40,000 people already use Nijmegen station every day and that number is still growing. By renovating the station, ProRail is keen to provide a better service to these users. The reconstruction is scheduled for completion in 2028 and passengers from Nijmegen will then benefit from trains that are not only more frequent, but that also reach their destinations faster. They will also gain various new facilities that will make traveling from Nijmegen station an even more pleasant experience and there will be more holding space for the trains. All of these interventions will ensure that this busy rail hub is fit for the future.