Billions of euros needed to boost mobility, government is told

Photo: DutchNews.nl
Photo: DutchNews.nl

Billions of euros needs investing in Dutch roads and transport to stop the Netherlands grinding to a halt, the government was told on Monday.

In total 24 organisations, from state-owned railway firm NS and Schipol airport to passenger and motoring lobby groups, have written to ministers calling for more cash.

The €10bn earmarked for improvements in the coming two years does not go far enough, the organisations say. The economy may be growing again, but spending on improving air, water, road and rail mobility is not keeping pace.

‘Half of our journeys are made by bike or on foot, yet we invest almost nothing in them,’ a spokesman for the cycling union Fietsersbond, told website Nu.nl.

‘If we want travellers to switch to different modes of transport, there needs to be good provisions. And that means proper bike parks at stations and fast dedicated bike routes.’

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