The Noord-Zuidlijn (north-south line) is the new 9.7 km underground rail link that will provide 200,000 passengers a day with ‘fast, safe and comfortable’ transport from Amsterdam North to the WTC railway station in the south of the city in 15 minutes. The project dates back to 1989 but construction only began in 2003 and has been dogged by financial and technical setbacks including the collapse of a number of homes along the route. By June 2009, the price had been hiked to €3.1bn and the completion date put back to 2017.