Five years ago, a new lobby started for a fast train connection between the Northern Netherlands and the Randstad, baptized the Lelylijn. This lobbying has now made considerable progress. In the House of Representatives elections of 2021 and 2023, the railway had a place in almost all party programs. Rutte IV’s coalition agreement even reserved 3 billion euros for its construction. A motion by Frisian MP Habtamu de Hoop (PvdA-GroenLinks) to maintain this amount was adopted almost unanimously at the beginning of this year.
You would therefore think that a new cabinet would include the Lely Line in the coalition agreement as an important infrastructure project. All the more so because ‘the region’ has been the center of attention lately, partly thanks to the report Every region counts from 2023. In this letter, several important advisory bodies urge the cabinet to thoroughly revise regional policy.
About the author
Wim van Wegen is one of the founders and board member of the Lelylijn Initiative Group. This is a submitted contribution, which does not necessarily reflect the position of de Volkskrant. Read more about our policy regarding opinion pieces here.
Previous contributions to this discussion can be found at the bottom of this article.
A striking amount of space was made available for ‘the region’ in the election manifestos. Many parties note that people in regions outside the known economic hotspots often feel left out in the cold when it comes to government attention and investments. The numbers confirm this feeling. The report therefore calls for a fresh look at the government’s investment strategy. In short, the idea of ’making stronger what is already strong’ must make way for an approach that does justice to all regions.
Zuiderzee Works
An investment that fits with such an approach is the Lely line. As always with large projects, not everyone is enthusiastic. This was already the case with the life’s work – the Zuiderzee Works – of the namesake of the Lely line, Cornelis Lely, and it is no different now. Henk Folmer and Yeltsje van der Meer-Kooistra recently stated in this newspaper that a new rail connection between the Northern Netherlands and the Randstad would be counterproductive. It would actually cause companies to move to the Randstad and not bring new employment to the north.
If national politics are finally showing the willingness to make a billion-dollar investment in the North, two Northern professors have come up with a plea for return-oriented thinking. As a resident of the Noordoostpolder (also a Lely project), I fear that I would never live where I live now if both had been at the administrative controls at the time.
The economy follows infrastructure
Sometimes you have to think big and show vision instead of talking about obstacles. One of the arguments for investing in infrastructure such as ports, roads and railways is to strengthen the economic structure: the economy follows infrastructure. If you do this with a well-thought-out plan, the number of bears will remain limited.
Take the idea behind the intermediate stations of the Lely line (for example Emmeloord, Joure, Drachten): the hinterland can connect to these public transport hubs, for example with good bus connections. In this way, many municipalities in the northern Netherlands benefit from the train connection, which acts as a catalyst for public transport in general. The environment (more train, less car) and economic activity also benefit from the Lely Line. Folmer and Van der Meer-Kooistra are at their beck and call.
Breaking with pattern
A majority in the House of Representatives underlines this, at least in words. According to Every region counts At least 65 percent of the planned infrastructure investments over the next ten years will take place in the Randstad. This while only about 40 percent of the Dutch population lives there. Will the new cabinet break with this pattern and actually become a government team for the entire Netherlands?
A number of the parties currently forming say they want to work on a stronger region, a better distribution of funds and a fairer distribution of major infrastructure investments. It would be to their credit if all those beautiful words were converted into powerful actions. The Lely Line is an excellent project for this and could well connect the Netherlands in several respects.
Reader response: Broaden your horizons
Two Groningen professors claim that the possible Lely Line is only beneficial for the Randstad and that it will not bring any benefits to the north. Improve the current connections, they say. Sure, but why not both-and? They make the mistake that everything revolves around business and money. Large companies will not establish themselves in Groningen, on the contrary, thanks to a fast connection, this is not necessary.
Highly educated ambitious young people will indulge in their socio-cultural activities in the Randstad. The well-being and happiness of ordinary Groningen residents who visit a concert or family in the Randstad with a time saving of 60 minutes is dismissed with a short paragraph: in their view that is unimportant.
And Randstad residents who get to know the beautiful Groningen, the Groninger Museum, Forum, the Groningen churches and festivals and much more, that does not cross their minds. That also generates money, but more than that it is about broadening the horizons. Then you can really make the gap a little smaller.
Steven KolsterenGroningen
