Amsterdam Metro

The Amsterdam Metro (Dutch: Amsterdamse Metro) is a rapid transit system serving Amsterdam, Netherlands, and extending into the surrounding municipalities of Diemen and Ouder-Amstel. The network is owned by the City of Amsterdam and operated by GVB, the municipal public transport company that also operates the city’s trams, buses, and ferries. The metro forms one part of Amsterdam’s rail-based public transport network alongside the extensive tram system and frequent regional and intercity trains operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).

The metro is a relatively recent addition to Amsterdam’s transportation system, with service beginning in October 1977. The first line, the Oostlijn (East Line), connected the city centre to the newly developed Bijlmermeer area in the southeastern borough of Amsterdam-Zuidoost via Lines 53 and 54. Further expansion was delayed due to public opposition, resuming in the 1990s with the opening of Line 51, a hybrid metro/tram route developed as a compromise with the municipality of Amstelveen.

The system now comprises five lines and 39 stations, spanning 42.7 kilometres (26.5 mi). Three lines—51, 53, and 54—originate at Centraal Station, with Lines 53 and 54 running southeast to Zuidoost, and Line 51 heading south before turning west. Until 2019, Line 51 continued as a tram into Amstelveen, but this segment was closed and replaced with a dedicated tram line, the Amsteltram. Line 50, the only route that bypasses the city centre, connects Zuidoost to western districts. The newest addition, Line 52, opened in July 2018 and runs from Amsterdam-Noord to Amsterdam-Zuid via Centraal. It was constructed mostly underground and does not share tracks with other lines.

The first plans for an underground railway in Amsterdam date from the 1920s: in November 1922, members of the municipal council of Amsterdam Zeeger Gulden and Emanuel Boekman asked the responsible alderman Ter Haar to study the possibility of constructing an underground railway in the city, in response to which the municipal department of Public Works drafted reports with proposals for underground railways in both 1923 and 1929. These plans stalled in the planning phase, however, and it took until the 1950s for the discussion about underground rail to resurface again in Amsterdam.

The post-war population boom and increase in motorized traffic shifted the perception of underground rail transport in Amsterdam considerably: whereas in the 1920s, underground rail had been considered too expensive, halfway through the 1950s it was presented as a realistic solution to the problems caused by increased traffic. In 1955, a report published by the municipal government concerning the inner city of Amsterdam—known by the Dutch title Nota Binnenstad—suggested installing a commission to explore solutions to the traffic problems Amsterdam faced. This commission, which was headed by former director of the department of Public Works J.W. Clerx, was subsequently installed in March 1956, and published its report Openbaar vervoer in de agglomeratie Amsterdam in 1960.

The aldermen and mayor of Amsterdam agreed with the conclusion of the report of the Clerx commission that an underground railway network ought to be built in Amsterdam in the near future. In April 1963 they installed the Bureau Stadsspoorweg which had the task to study the technical feasibility of a metropolitan railway, to propose a route network, to suggest the preferred order of construction of the various lines, and to study the adverse effects of constructing a metro line, such as traffic disruption and the demolition of buildings.

In 1964 and 1965, Bureau Stadsspoorweg presented four reports to the municipal government of Amsterdam, which were made available to the public on 30 August 1966. In March 1968, the aldermen and mayor of Amsterdam subsequently submitted a proposal to the municipal council of Amsterdam to agree to the construction of the metro network, which the council assented to on 16 May 1968 with 38 votes in favour and 3 against. Under the original plan, four lines were to be built, connecting the entire city and replacing many of the existing tram lines. The following lines were planned: an east–west line from the southeast to the Osdorp district via Amsterdam Centraal railway station; a circle line from the western harbor area to the suburban town of Diemen; a north–south line from the northern district via Amsterdam Centraal to Weteringplantsoen traffic circle, with two branches at both ends; and a second east–west line from Geuzenveld district to Gaasperplas. The system would be constructed gradually and was expected to be completed by the end of the 1990s.

Construction of the Oostlijn (East Line) began in 1970 as the first phase of Amsterdam’s metro system, intended to connect the city centre with the newly developed residential district of Bijlmermeer in the southeast. The line opened on 14 October 1977, running underground from Weesperplein through the eastern districts to Amsterdam Amstel station, then continuing above ground alongside existing NS railway tracks. At Van der Madeweg, it splits into two branches: Route 53 follows a new right-of-way to Gaasperplas, while Route 54 continued along NS tracks to Holendrecht. Both routes were extended to Amsterdam Centraal on 11 October 1980, and Route 54 was further extended on a new right-of-way from Holendrecht to Gein on 27 August 1982.