Storm

Years and years the Uithof has laid in ruin. The Heidelberglaan is still one big mess. Busses still zigzag through fences and the students have to cross the road in mortal danger. All for the brilliant project of the Uithoflijn. A tram that should transport students and staff from Utrecht Centraal to the Uithof, alleviating the incredibly overcrowded Bus 12. An alleviation that is highly necessary, since all the bus lines combined drive 80.000 km on a busy day. Consequently, the roads on and to the Uithof have laid open to construct a rail the last years. The project should finally be finished in July 2018. However, and you guessed it, this is not going to be the case.

Last weekend the province of Utrecht announced they have to invest 64 million euros to help soften the exuberant shortage of 84 million euros the municipality of Utrecht is facing. The Uithoflijn costs more than expected and is more complex than expected. Because Utrecht Centraal is such a mess as well, in order to be able to construct the rails, the entire foundations of the stations area must be upgraded, delaying the entire project. Consequently, we will be cramped into Bus 12, or literally any other bus to the Uithof, until fucking December 2019. I will be almost be done studying by then. Everyone will have suffered the disgusting smell and warmth of the fat weirdo, who decided to eat an entire garlic bread at eight o’clock in the morning, you are cramped up against for their whole study time. Moreover, we will have crossed the Heidelberglaan many more times dodging busses, avoiding mud, and having to walk hours to find a passage between the fences, just to get a wet sandwich at the overpriced Spar.

Anyhow, the municipality of Utrecht fucked up and us again. Debt and delay over a stupid tram line. And why is this so stupid? Simply, because it is not the first time Utrecht screwed up a public transportation project.

In 2008 the municipality of Utrecht expected an enormous increase in public transportation passengers. Acting stout-hearted they immediately bought new trams to deal with the coming growth. Where did they buy these trams? Second-handily in Vienna, Austria. The 30-year-old trams were bought in a bidding race with railway museums that were also interested. Brilliantly, these trams weren’t able to immediately be utilised on the tracks. The platforms had different heights, machinists had to be trained, safety systems, security camera’s and a whole new control system had to be installed. Moreover, their maximum speed was 70 km/u, much slower than the already operating trams. And how do we solve that in Utrecht? We just skip a few stops. They started operating only in 2010; two years after the purchase. It turned out, however, that the wheels were slightly different from the normal trams. Consequence: the old trams derailed. Furthermore, the announcements in the trams called all the stops, even the ones the tram was skipping, and the announcement was in German. And if that’s not enough the trams stood still frequently and caught fire once in a while. All passengers hated them. Lastly, the expected growth of passengers stayed out and the trams were thus completely superfluous. Eventually, the trams were sold to Krakow. Final costs: 5 million euros. A dark chapter in the history of Utrecht’s public transportation.

Let us all hope that the delays and extra costs of the Uithoflijn will be the last and that it will function properly at the end of 2019.