Utrechtse sneltram
The Utrechtse sneltram, operating under the brand name U-OV, where "OV" is the Dutch abbreviation for openbaar vervoer, is a light rail system in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The system consists of three tram routes connecting Utrecht Centraal railway station with the residential areas of Lombok and Kanaleneiland and the suburbs Nieuwegein and IJsselstein to the southwest of the station, and with the Uithof district and Utrecht University to the southeast. The system has a total length of 18.3 km, and a rolling stock consisting of 54 trams. It carried over 9 million riders in 2023.
Organization
There are four entities associated with the sneltram.Bestuur Regio Utrecht is the regional public transport authority in the Utrecht region. BRU does long- and short-term planning for public transport in the region working closely with municipalities and travellers' organisations.
Transdev Nederland Mobility Services N.V. has a concession to operate bus and tram vehicles in the Utrecht region under the brand name U-OV on behalf of its client Bestuur Regio Utrecht. The concession to Transdev began on 14 December 2025, and will last until 2035.
The province of Utrecht is the owner of the sneltram, and manages its assets through a provincial entity called Regiotram Utrecht.
Regiotram Utrecht is responsible for the management, maintenance and expansion of the entire tram system in and around the city of Utrecht. Regiotram Utrecht has approximately three dozen employees located at the Nieuwegein depot. The entity manages and maintains tram infrastructure such as trams, track, signaling, level crossings, stops and digital information panels for riders. It also deals with safety on the tram system.
Lines
The Utrechtse sneltram travels via Utrecht Centraal station between the Uithof district southeast of the station to Nieuwegein and IJsselstein southwest of the station.The section of the sneltram running southwest of Utrecht CS is dubbed the SUNIJ line after the communities served. From Utrecht CS, the SUNIJ line runs to Stadscentrum in Nieuwegein where the line branches to separate termini, tram 20 to Nieuwegein-Zuid and tram 21 to IJsselstein-Zuid. The section running southeast of Utrecht CS is dubbed the Uithof line, and runs to P+R Science Park in the Uithof district. Tram routes 20, 21 and 22 all use the Uithof line.
At Utrecht CS, there are two tram stops: Jaarbeursplein on the west side of the station, and Centrumzijde on its east side. Until 2 July 2022, no trams carried passengers between these two stops, and passengers had a 500-metre walk to transfer between the SUNIJ and Uithof lines at Utrecht CS. Today, on weekdays, it is possible to ride from Nieuwegein-Zuid and IJsselstein-Zuid to P+R Science Park without changing trams.
There are three tram routes:
- Tram 20: Nieuwegein-ZuidUtrecht CSP+R Science Park
- Tram 21: IJsselstein-ZuidUtrecht CSP+R Science Park
- Tram 22: Utrecht CSP+R Science Park
The sneltram operates largely off-street except for level crossings. Between the P+R Science Park and Padualaan stops in the Uithof as well as between the Centrumzijde and Jaarbeursplein stops at Utrecht Centraal, trams operate in a paved right-of-way shared with buses. Trams operate in dedicated centre-of-road reservation between Jaarbeursplein and the Vasco da Gamalaan stops. Around the Kanaleneiland-Zuid stop, trams operate between two parallel streets in a dedicated right-of-way.
History
Earlier tram services
In Utrecht, there were earlier tram services that existed between 1879 and 1949, after which there was no tram service until the sneltram opened in 1983.Tram service in Utrecht began in 1879 with a horse-drawn tram line running between Utrecht, De Bilt and Zeist. Between 1883 and 1929, steam and horse trams ran between Utrecht and the villages of Jutphaas and Vreeswijk, now part of Nieuwegein. The first electric trams ran in Utrecht in 1906, and later in 1909 from Utrecht to De Bilt and Zeist. In 1921 there were five tram lines. Tram lines connected the city center with suburbs such as, and. With the increase in auto traffic and bus services, city tram service ended in 1938. After being interrupted during the Second World War, tram service to Zeist ended in May 1949.
Sneltram timeline
The sneltram light rail system was constructed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. There were two branches both opened on 17 December 1983. One branch ran between Moreelsepark to Nieuwegein-Zuid in the suburb of Nieuwegein as line 100. A second branch ran from Moreelsepark to Doorslag in Nieuwegein as line 101. The operator was Westnederland.On 14 December 1985, line 101 was extended to the Achterveld stop in IJsselstein.
In 1994, Midnet took over operation of the sneltram from Westnederland, and lines 100 and 101 were renumbered as 60 and 61 respectively.
In 1999, Connexxion took over operation of the sneltram from Midnet.
On 2 July 2000, line 61 was extended from Achterveld via Binnenstad to IJsselstein-Zuid.
In September 2007, Alstom Transport arranged the loan to Utrecht of a low-floor Citadis tram from Mulhouse. The tram made demo runs between 7 and 13 September. On 9 September, a car-free Sunday in Utrecht, the Mulhouse tram was put on public display. At the time, Utrecht was considering a replacement of its then 30-year-old tram fleet and the replacement of bus lanes with trams.
In 2009, the Moreelsepark stop was closed to accommodate the construction of a new public transit terminal. Until this time, Moreelsepark was the downtown terminal for the sneltram. With its closure, the stop Centraal Station became the new terminal.
On 13 December 2009, the spitstram went into service as line 260 using trams purchased second hand from Vienna. It ran between Utrecht und Nieuwegein Zuid during the morning and afternoon peak periods.
In December 2011, Qbuzz took over operation of the sneltram from Connexxion.
In 2013, the stops Centraal Station and Westplein closed due to construction at Utrecht Centraal station. The stop Jaarbeursplein became the new temporary terminal.
On 11 July 2014, the Vienna trams were retired from service and sold to Kraków in Poland, thus ending line 260 spitstram service.
In 2015, the Province of Utrecht became the owner of the Utrechtse sneltram.
In December 2016, the first low-floor CAF-tram arrived in Utrecht at the tram depot.
On 18 March 2019, there was a shooting attack on a tram near the junction of 24 Oktoberplein.
On 28 November 2019, a new workshop building was officially opened at the depot. It handles maintenance for low-floor trams as well as for the older high-floor trams.
On 14 December 2019, line 22 opened from Utrecht Centraal to the Uithof district. It replaced bus line 12, in service since 1969, which used articulated buses that were 18 and 25 metres long, the latter length having two articulations. Upon opening of the line, the frequency was 10 trams per hour per direction. Service was weekdays only with no service after 22:00; this was the same hours of service as for bus line 12. Bus 28 serves the route when line 22 is not running. There was still a 500-metre walk at Utrecht Centraal for any passengers wanting to transfer between the SUNIJ and Uithof lines. At this time the Utrechtse sneltram had three lines:
| Line | 60 | 61 | 22 |
| Length of line | |||
| Number of stops | 15 | 19 | 9 |
Effective 2 March 2020, the frequency of line 22 was increased from 10 to 12 trams per hour per direction. By the beginning of February, the top day for ridership was 18,000. Regiotrams hoped to increase the frequency to 16 trams per hour per direction in December 2020.
Effective 20 March 2020, all tram service on line 22 was temporarily replaced by bus line 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the closure of the University of Utrecht and other institutions in Utrecht Science Park, line 22 ridership had fallen by over 90 percent. Also fewer tram drivers were available because many drivers were calling in sick. Trams on lines 60 and 61 continued to run but less frequently. On 1 April 2020, tram service was reintroduced on line 22 but only during rush hours. Also, double-articulated buses were put into service on bus line 28. These measures were to allow greater physical distancing among passengers which include health workers employed at Utrecht Science Park.
On 30 May 2020, the SUNIJ line south of P+R Westhaven was shut down in order to lower and extend station platforms to accommodate coupled pairs of low-floor CAF trams. High-floor trams continued to operate between P+R Westhaven and Jaarbeursplein until 4 July when that portion of the line also shut down. The last day of service for SIG trams was on 3 July, when the high-floor trams had their last runs after 37 years of service. From 4 July, the SUNIJ line was fully shut down for [|renovation].
On 3 January 2021, line 60 from Utrecht Centraal to Nieuwegein Zuid reopened using 7-section CAF trams. On 14 March 2021, line 61 went fully into service between Jaarbeursplein and IJsselstein-Zuid.
On 16 March 2021, a coupled pair of trams travelling north towards Stadion Galgenwaard station was struck and derailed by a van at a level crossing along the road Laan van Maarschalkerweerd. No serious injuries were reported, but both the road and tracks required an extended closure, and heavy damage was reported to the overhead wires in addition to damage to the derailed trams, one of which was sprawled across the road. Police allege that the van driver was under the influence and had run through a red light. Between March and September 2021, there have been three incidents of road users ignoring a red light at a tram crossing, which were not protected by crossing gates. In each case, the road vehicle struck the side of the tram between the operator cabin and the first wheel set, lifting the tram off the track during the collision. The three collisions damaged five trams in all, of which one from the incident at Laan van Maarschalkerweerd may be beyond repair. The province of Utrecht hopes to recover 5 million euros for the damage to trams and infrastructure from the motorists' insurance companies, since their clients were all at fault. The province has asked U-OV to lower the speed of trams at crossings from 40 km/h to 20 km/h. The province plans to spend 750,000 euros to improve safety at tram crossings, and to order five additional trams to create a reserve in its fleet.
Between 26 June 2021 and 6 September 2021, line 22 was replaced by buses in order to repave the combined tram/bus lanes near Science Park station. The pavement surface was crumbling posing hazards to vehicles. A new paving technique was used that re-attached the paving to the tram track using a special liquid substance.
Between 26 February and 8 July 2022, buses replaced trams to Nieuwegein and IJsselstein in order to relocate the Stadscentrum tram stop and realign the tracks. Upon reopening, the stop was renamed from Stadscentrum to Nieuwegein City.
Between March and April 2022, the level crossing at Symfonielaan near the Zuilenstein tram stop was closed in order to widen the bicycle paths crossing the tracks and to add crossing gates for extra protection. The crossing has the bicycle paths on both sides of the road; previously, the crossing was protected only by traffic lights. A fatal collision in 2020 between a tram and a scooter at the crossing was the reason for this improvement.
Starting 2 July 2022, passengers could ride trams between the Jaarbeursplein and Centrumzijde stops at Utrecht Centraal station thus eliminating a 500-metre walk for passengers transferring between the SUNIJ and Uithof lines. SUNIJ lines 60 and 61 became tram routes 20 and 21 respectively which continued onto P+R Science Park on weekdays.
By mid-November 2022, wheel-sound dampers had been installed on all trams to reduce squealing on curves. Twenty greasing installations were installed in IJsselstein, in Nieuwegein and at several places in the city of Utrecht. From 2023, the rails would also be ground so that tram wheels would optimally contact the rails. These efforts are to reduce noise and noise complaints.
In June 2024, the province of Utrecht announced that the concession to run trams and buses within the city of Utrecht and its immediate suburbs would be awarded to Transdev Nederland Mobility Services N.V., replacing Qbuzz beginning in December 2025. The Transdev concession would expire in 2035. Transdev would continue to operate under the U-OV brand name.