In Eindhoven’s political scene, there have been long-standing calls for tram lines, particularly as the city experiences rapid growth. Despite this, the region is investing in fast bus lanes. Experts interviewed by Studio040 consider this a missed opportunity, arguing that a new bus station will not enhance accessibility.
Tram & Jobs
Experts believe that constructing a tram line makes sense for a city like Eindhoven, which is becoming increasingly important economically for the Netherlands. Although the most significant high-tech company in Europe, ASML, is not located within the city limits, many of its 20,000 employees (expected to grow to 40,000) live in Eindhoven. The region anticipates adding 50,000 to 70,000 jobs.
Bus station
With GroenLinks as the largest party and D66 and PvdA also advocating progressive mobility policies, Rob van der Bijl, a visiting professor of mobility planning at Ghent University, finds the current political decisions surprising. For instance, the city is allocating 1 billion euros to construct an underground bus station, a move Van der Bijl questions.
“An underground bus station is not a beneficial addition to a city. I honestly can’t think of any successful underground bus stations worldwide. Additionally, the construction involves complex tunnels, ramps, and infrastructure, and it hardly improves public transport in Eindhoven”, says Van der Bijl.
Current Situation
“The current Neckerspoel bus station is still fairly new and functions well, there is sufficient capacity”, the mobility expert sees. “But the choice is still made to build an underground bus station. But accessibility and mobility in Eindhoven will not improve from that”.
“I think that with a logical route, you can make a tram line profitable”. Rob van der Bijl, visiting professor of mobility planning at Ghent University
“It’s real estate development,” says Van der Bijl. “Then buildings can be put up above it. That bus station was built with 1 billion euros of public money and then developed so that commercial real estate companies could make money with it. Building a tram line is expensive, but it doesn’t cost a billion euros”.
ASML
ASML has grown enormously and will continue to grow, the city expects to have around 300,000 inhabitants by 2040. “I can imagine that if you draw a logical route through the city, you can make a first tram line profitable. Then you have to be able to draw a logical route along all the popular places, such as the High Tech Campus, De Run, the TU/e campus, the Philips Stadium and the airport”.
Finally, a tram can also offer a solution for the staff shortage in the public transport sector. “In very busy places, a bus has to run every five minutes. But trams can be much longer than buses. You would have to run less frequently while being able to transport many more people. By running a tram 12 times an hour, you can transport as many people as when you run a bus 20 times an hour”, says Van der Bijl.
Region and Helmond
Van der Bijl also sees the advantages. “But in a coherent urban area. The problem with Eindhoven is that its urban area also extends to the neighbouring municipalities and Helmond. A tram system would have to be spread out over that area. That is a major challenge”.
“However, this could be a turning point for Eindhoven,” Van der Bijl thinks. “A tram line is only exploitable with 20,000 passengers per day. 30,000 per day is even better and 40,000 passengers is almost too much for a bus system. 10 years ago, colleagues of mine investigated it for Eindhoven and then it was discovered that the most important axes in the city did not even come close to 20,000 passengers”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Seetha
