The province of Gelderland moves on quickly. On Monday, the province announced that it wants to abandon the construction of Rail Terminal Gelderland (RTG), as there appear to be no interested parties for its construction and operation. Immediately afterwards, the idea was put forward to locate the Arnhem rail yard at the planned RTG location near Valburg. This would pave the way to build a residential area on the current site of the Arnhem railway yard.

“Every disadvantage has its advantage,” goes a famous Dutch quote. The disappointment about the fact that the Gelderland Rail Terminal tender did not yield any tenderers is being compensated by the province with a new plan: the Arnhem rail yard could possibly be located on the site where the rail terminal was planned. The municipality of Arnhem would be happy with this, because it would then be able to build 10,000 homes where the railway yard is now located, according to newspaper De Gelderlander.

This can be deduced from a letter from the province of Gelderland, the newspaper writes. In the letter, deputy Helga Witjes reports that she wants to stop the Gelderland Rail Terminal project. There is no interest from the business community to construct and operate the terminal. The rail terminal at Valburg would become a transfer station for freight transport. According to De Gelderlander, the province has already invested 15 to 20 million euros in the project. The alternative plan for the site prevents capital destruction with retroactive and anticipatory effect.

A blessing in disguise

The municipality of Arnhem and ProRail had been looking for a suitable location for a new rail yard for some time. The current railway yard is not too far from the city center and in combination with an adjacent industrial zone it would be an ideal location for residential development. That is why the municipality of Arnhem, the province of Gelderland and ProRail see some advantages in this disadvantage. A decision on the idea is expected at the end of this month.

This article was originally published by our sister publication SpoorPro.nl