A simple but smart idea
The building of two new railways in the Netherlands resulted in a smart idea. The new links released capacity, particularly on the rail network in the Province of South Holland.
The idea consists of three elements:
- using the capacity released on the railway for a high-frequency train service and winding down the existing local train services;
- building a large number of extra stations so that the high-frequency link will act like a city-rail service;
- building homes and offices on and around all the existing and new stations in that network.
The concept became known as the 'Stedenbaan' ('Cities Line') and it will result in a considerable improvement in transport in the region. The idea is that the Stedenbaan services will be so frequent that users will no longer need to worry about departure times. By locating housing, work and facilities in higher densities at and around station locations, many more people will use public transport as an alternative for the car.
'The time is right for the concept,' says Joost Schrijnen, the Space and Mobility director for the South Holland provincial authority. 'At present there are few other large development projects in progress outside of the cities and so there is a lot of energy and creativity available to implement this concept.'
You would be off the mark if you were to call the idea a public transport concept. 'It's much more than that. And we also look at the facilities in an integral way, taking car use into account as well. So there will be plenty of parking facilities for cars and bicycles at Stedenbaan stops. In our urban regions, the level of vehicle use is incredibly high compared to other metropolises. That really has to change because we can't just carry on building roads. | 
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