Despite what you may have read, the plans to extend the North-South metro line to Schiphol, which opened in July in 2018, have not been finalised. Recently, the Volkskrant reported that the metro line would be extended from Amsterdam-Zuid to Schiphol and Hoofddorp in the next 10 years and would cost at least three billion euros.

North-South line plans

However, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure and NS, in response to the Volkskrant’s report, those plans are nowhere near finalised and it is too soon to say whether it will be extended within 10 years. The plans involve having the metro travel almost exclusively above ground parallel with the A4 motorway and having its own station at the airport. Seven parties, including the municipality of Amsterdam, NS, KLM and Schiphol are pushing for the plans to be made a reality.

Despite reports of NS Chief Executive Roger van Boxtel discussing the plans at the Ministry of General Affairs, NS says that only the accessibility in the Netherlands was spoken about and no concrete commitments were made regarding the North-South line. The Ministry of Infrastructure also emphasises that nothing is set in stone yet and that the North-South line is one of the many options being looked into.

Government investment needed

According to estimates, the project will cost about three billion euros. The parties involved are hoping that the government will invest the majority of this figure. A spokesperson from Schiphol says that other finance possibilities are being looked at and refutes the claim that harbour dues and KLM ticket prices will be increased to fund some of the metro line costs.