Opinion: Rotterdam East yearns for metro tunnel
18 April 2025Tony van der Linden - Rotterdam-East is going through a shake-up in the next few years: the east side of the city is under heavy construction. With a total of 30,000 new homes in the future Feyenoord City and the east flank of De Esch, Rotterdammers should have more living space and housing in the coming years. This makes the construction project one of the largest urban expansions in the Netherlands. An important part of this expansion is the construction of a new north-south connection.
Tony, our chairman of DWARS Rotterdam-Rijnmond explains why the metro tunnel option is still preferable.
An important part of this expansion is the construction of a new north-south link. But where this college will settle for a tram, or maybe even a ‘fast’ bus, the east side of Rotterdam has long needed a better connection to travel around the city. Whether we are talking about the already existing transport poverty on Rotterdam-South, or the increasingly crowded metro system: anyone who wants to build 30,000 homes cannot afford to take the metro tunnel off the table.
According to current plans, a tram or fast bus connection will run over the bridge, connecting the public transport hubs Zuidplein and Kralingse Zoom. Concept drawing: spoorpro.nl/lightrail
‘You want to get from Erasmus University to IJsselmonde, Feyenoord is playing European football. The road from the Brienenoord Bridge is so full that the entire Kralingse Zoom is jammed with cars from start to finish. The bus has already been delayed for half an hour and in that time has advanced maybe 30 metres. This happens almost every week.’
The connection in Rotterdam East has always been flawed. If you need to get to Kralingen or Erasmus University from Rotterdam-South, the tram and metro routes always go via Beurs and the Erasmus Bridge. There is no direct connection between major districts such as De Esch, Kralingen-Zuid and IJsselmonde - even though they are only a few kilometres apart. Alternatives over the Brienenoord Bridge are scarce: here, mainly long bus lines run to surrounding villages, and two buses that partly go through Rotterdam-South.
Back in 2021, the new bank connection prompted RET director Maurice Unck to express his preference for a metro tunnel between Zuidplein and Kralingse Zoom. Rightly so: if Rotterdam's ambition is to expand by 2050 with a total of 50,000 extra homes, more interchanges are needed where public transport converges. Further expansion of Beurs station, after recent renovations, is virtually impossible.
‘During rush hour, it is really crowded here. Beurs is actually too small. There are more passengers here than at Rotterdam Central, with 15 tracks and a huge station hall.’
Figures
The discussion about that connection is now playing out again in the city hall and at the Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Region. Costs will play a decisive role in political choices about the accessibility of Rotterdam East. But the figures don't lie: 10,000 passengers per hour can be carried by metro, 3,000 by tram and only 1,000 by bus. Given that it will not make the public transport network any quieter, a metro tunnel is the only logical option. Moreover, an underground connection does not need a bridge to open and close and does not burden the neighbourhoods with more car traffic.
Indeed, if we extend this tunnel from Zuidplein to Kralingse Zoom, and further reconnect it to the existing metro network via Ommoord, for example, the long-cherished desire for a circular metro line will finally emerge. Such a ring line - like the Cityringen in Copenhagen, the Grand Paris Express Whether the Circle Line in London - makes transfers easier, relieves the city centre and connects suburbs directly. This is how we build a city where you don't always have to travel through the centre to get from A to B.
Cost
The metro tunnel would cost about €1.5-2 billion more than the tram or bus variant. That's a lot of money. But it can be done! Paris is investing 30 to 40 billion euros to make its public transport network future-proof and economically competitive. This development is in line with a broader trend in Europe: seriously freeing up street space by fewer cars and more sustainable, spacious public transport. Rotterdam currently lacks this ambition. A city that wants to free up space for 50,000 extra inhabitants should also make room for good public transport.
We can create that space by not opting for a car bridge. Every metre of asphalt we don't spend on a new motorway, we can use for greener, more spacious and healthier neighbourhoods. For the people living there now, and for those yet to come. For entrepreneurs, students at Erasmus University and surrounding colleges and children who want to cycle safely to school.
The central government, the province, the municipality and the Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region are all contributing financially to this choice. But the conditions for this financial support are not in Rotterdam's favour. For example, the central government only wants to help pay if there is also a motorway to relieve the Brienenoord Bridge. The alderman sitting at the table on behalf of Rotterdam will not get a leg up there. This makes the arrival of a tram or bus connection instead of the much-needed metro line almost inevitable.
But a car-free city with space for Rotterdammers in their neighbourhoods does not mean ‘just’ building an extra motorway in the middle of the city. An extra motorway is an open invitation to take the car, and then still stand still at the bank during rush hour. Car-free is a strong public transport alternative that will automatically relieve the Brienenoord Bridge.
Rotterdam has shown guts more often than not. The Maas Tunnel. The Erasmus Bridge. The metro to The Hague. Ambitious choices that have shaped the city. Now it is time for the next step! A metro tunnel from South to East for future-proof transport. A ring line to really bring the city together. And a city council that dares to choose this.
Submitted by:
Tony van der Linden (Chairman DWARS Rotterdam-Rijnmond), Former national board member DWARS national. Submitted jointly from DWARS Rotterdam-Rijnmond and the JS Rijnmond.
Source : https://www.dehavenloods.nl/nieuws/algemeen/58088/de-metrolijn-van-de-toekomst-rotterdam-oost-snakt-naar-een-go#