The speed limit on some 60% of the Netherlands’ motorways will go up to 130 kph in September 2012, the transport ministry said on Monday.

Trials on a handful of roads have been so successful that 130 kph can be the new norm for all motorways, apart from where tough pollution controls are necessary, transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen says.
In addition, the minister wants to scrap four of the five 80 kph zones around the big cities. This is possible because of improvements in air quality, the minister said in a briefing to parliament.
It is not clear from the ministerial briefing which city ring road will continue to operate an 80 kph maximum speed.