Lelystad–Zwolle railway
The Lelystad–Zwolle railway, also known as the Hanzelijn, is a Dutch railway line, finished in 2012. It connects Lelystad, capital of the province of Flevoland, with Zwolle, capital of the neighbouring province of Overijssel, and provides a direct rail link between Flevoland and the north-east of the Netherlands.
Construction
The Hanzelijn project is a less costly alternative to the, a proposed new Lelystad-Groningen line via Emmeloord, Heerenveen and Drachten for which planning was cancelled in 2007.Work started in January 2007 and was completed in December 2012. Two new stations have been built: Dronten and Kampen Zuid. The maximum speed on most of the line is., no Dutch domestic rolling stock is capable of achieving this speed, as all existing rolling stock was limited to. Since the trains currently running on the line only use train protection system ATB-EG, speed is limited to in practice. Operator NS is planning to operate their new ICNG trains on the route, which are capable of achieving the higher speeds. Delays in manufacturing have caused their introduction to be no earlier than the second half of 2023.
On 6 December 2012 the railway was opened by Queen Beatrix, using the Dutch Royal Train to traverse the new track. Scheduled services began operating on 9 December 2012. The journey from Lelystad to Zwolle takes 25 minutes, reducing journey times from Amsterdam to Zwolle – and further north – by about 15 minutes. The total length of the new track is 50 km.