Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 9:13 PM
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THE HAGUE –
The accessibility of the platforms at The Hague Hollands Spoor creates a clash between the Hague city council and alderman Boudewijn Revis (VVD). A large majority want the platforms to remain accessible via the bicycle tunnel. But according to Alderman Revis, this is impossible because the agreements between the municipality, NS and ProRail have long been established. The stairs will simply be closed next week, Revis said Wednesday evening.
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The renovation of Hollands Spoor has been underway for some time. The existing passenger tunnel in the station itself will be extended to the Laak side. There will also be an entrance to the station, surrounded by shops. When that new entrance is put into use, the entrances to the platforms closed from the bicycle tunnel and the platforms can only be reached via the central hall. The main reason for the new tunnel as the entrance to the platforms would be that it is more convenient to build gates for the OV chip card here.
Residents from both sides of the station, cyclists and a large part of the Hague city council do not feel like this. They point out that this makes the platforms less accessible turn into. A PvdA motion to keep the passageways in the bicycle tunnel open received a majority of thirty against twelve votes on Wednesday evening. Only the VVD, PVV and the ChristenUnie / SGP voted against.
Keeping it open costs millions
However, Revis says he cannot implement the motion because the decision about closing the passages was made a long time ago by a previous city council. “You can have an opinion and think your pastors made the wrong decision,” he told the city council. ‘But the fact is that they called for something to be done about Hollands Spoor. Keeping the passageways open means that gates have to be placed and that costs many millions. ”
Revis warned before the councilors had to vote on the PvdA motion that he would not be able to implement the proposal. “The motion is impracticable and uncovered. The passageways will close next week. ” A majority ignored the warning and still voted for the PvdA motion.
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