NEW REGIONAL RAILWAY STATIONS An investigation of Sassenheim, Westervoort and Maarheeze Name: Robbert van Dijk Student ID: s0743321 Course: Master Thesis Programme: Master Planologie Supervisor: Dr. C.J.C.M. (Karel) Martens 2nd Reader: Rob van der Heijden Date: 28 August 2012 Version: 1.0 Preface To many the beginning of a study is the hardest part. This is what Verschuren & Doorewaard claim (2007, p. 9). And rightly so for undersigned. After starting with the thesis in a flow of enthusiasm I quickly saw myself enrolled in a provincial government significantly reducing the amount of time available for research. Ever since there have been waves of attention alternated by periods in which no time at all was dedicated to the thesis. Unfortunately, my supervisor at the time was not very much gifted with the talent to motivate, which contributed to delays on the project. In 2009 I changed employer to another regional government, a full time employment demanding a lot of time and effort. It could also been seen in another light: I was granted the privilege to work in two provincial governments already from the start of the work on the thesis. As such I was really close to the objects of study and the persons involved in matters of public transport. With the completion of this thesis I hope to finish a Master’s degree in spatial planning at the University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands). Similarly to the infrastructure projects that are discussed in this thesis, and in part the result of the reasons outlined above, this process has had its due course of delay. The relief that finally it will come to a desirable end is considerable. An important role in the eventual completion of the thesis is played by dr. Karel Martens who has been most flexible in accepting to supervise my thesis after having unsuccessfully worked on the project under another supervisor. Furthermore I want to thank the my parents for their occasional moral support; Anna-Sophie for her unrelenting belief in the successful completion of the thesis; Casper Stelling and Frans Blanker from MuConsult for their intellectual assistance and support during some dire hours in the progress of the research; my colleagues at the provincial government of Utrecht, in particular Gert, Paul, Ellen, Jan and Cor for their confidence and support; my former colleagues at the provincial government of Noord-Brabant, in particular Roger for his opportunity to launch a career in government; and Thea for her motherly speeches on the completion of the thesis that I was only too ignorant not to put into effect. 1 Table of contents Preface ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 2 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Renewed attention for new regional railway stations ............................................................ 5 1.1.1 A spatial-economic trend: growing congestion ............................................................... 6 1.1.2 The sustainability trend ................................................................................................... 7 1.1.3 New stations as a catalyst for economic development................................................... 9 1.1.4 New stations as a structuring force for high-quality spatial development ..................... 9 1.1.5 Towards an improvement of regional railways: new railway stations .......................... 10 1.2 Slow infrastructure development ......................................................................................... 10 1.2.1 Problem statement and research question ................................................................... 11 1.2.2 Factors for development ............................................................................................... 12 1.3 Societal & scientific relevance ............................................................................................... 12 1.4 Structure ................................................................................................................................ 13 2 Theoretical framework .................................................................................................................. 15 2.1 Literature on (slow) infrastructure development ................................................................. 16 2.2 Project development stage model ........................................................................................ 17 2.3 Administrative complexity .................................................................................................... 22 2.4 Exploitation potential ............................................................................................................ 25 2.5 Technical demands and investment costs............................................................................. 27 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 28 3 Research strategy .......................................................................................................................... 30 3.1 Research method: Case studies ............................................................................................ 30 3.2 Cases ...................................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.1 General eligibility criteria .............................................................................................. 33 3.2.2 Delay required ............................................................................................................... 35 3.2.3 Accounting for local conditions ..................................................................................... 35 3.3 Sources .................................................................................................................................. 37 3.4 Presentation .......................................................................................................................... 39 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 39 4 Investigation of station projects .................................................................................................... 41 4.1 MAARHEEZE .......................................................................................................................... 41 2 4.1.1 Prelude: the old station ................................................................................................. 42 4.1.2 The resurgence of the early 2000s ................................................................................ 43 4.1.3 The Driebos location...................................................................................................... 44 4.1.4 A temporary station then? ............................................................................................ 45 4.1.5 The bus saga ................................................................................................................. 46 4.1.6 The points affair ............................................................................................................ 47 4.1.7 Realisation ..................................................................................................................... 48 4.2 SASSENHEIM .......................................................................................................................... 51 4.2.1 Initiative for a new station ............................................................................................ 52 4.2.2 Location choice .............................................................................................................. 53 4.2.3 Local resistance and a small tunnel ............................................................................... 54 4.2.4 A new spatial plan and expensive cables ...................................................................... 54 4.2.5 A station without trains ................................................................................................. 55 4.3 WESTERVOORT ...................................................................................................................... 58 4.3.1 RegioRail and beyond .................................................................................................... 59 4.3.2 Capacity, curves, slopes ................................................................................................. 59 4.3.3 The ‘2nd phase’ of preparations ..................................................................................... 60 4.3.4 Still another location? ................................................................................................... 61 5 Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 66 5.1 Duration of station projects .................................................................................................. 66 5.2 Administrative complexity reviewed ....................................................................................