A break in the Netherlands

[Chris Bertram]

SWMBO and I spent most of last week in the Netherlands. We took the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, and drove up through France and Belgium, crossing into NL between Antwerp and Breda. Here are a few observations:

1) Belgian motorways often have wide central reservations, wide enough to place offside direction signs in, so you should have no excuse for missing your exit.
2) Antwerp's ring roads get *very* busy at rush hour. We ended up being diverted through the northern suburbs, taking in a tunnel under the Schelde en route.
3) Hard shoulders in NL are often designated as bus lanes "bij file", i.e. when there are queues.
4) There's often free parking in smaller towns, where I'd expect British towns of similar size to charge.
5) It's usually premium German cars that come up behind you at great speed - similar to the UK. Audi drivers, as ever, are worst.
6) If visiting Amsterdam take a public transport option. We tried two - on one day, we used 1-day travelcards, which cover all regional public transport for a full day, so we used the bus to get to Centraal Station, then trams to get to the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank Huis etc. This was EUR18.50 each. The next day, we used a P+R facility just off the A10 ring road. Here, return tram tickets to Centraal Station were EUR5.00 for two, but did not cover onward travel within the city. If you use the P+R as intended, for city-bound travel, parking is EUR1.00 only!
7) Bikes. They were everywhere, and almost all were the heavy-framed sit-up-and-beg type known as Oma-fietsen, or "Granny bikes". They were often fitted with baskets and/or child seats fore or aft, sometimes with a windshield as well. There were almost no Lycra warriors to be seen, though I did see a couple on an inter-urban route. The Dutch appear to prefer to keep athletic cycling off the public roads.
8) Scooters. Lots of these, usually in the cycle path, normally with no helmet, except for pizza delivery riders. Frequently ridden pillion.
9) Trams - narrow gauge compared with modern UK trams, therefore with narrower bodies, and felt a bit cramped inside. But frequent and convenient. We didn't try any other railed transport (Amsterdam metro or NS), and the town we stayed at did not have a railway station.
10) Buses - can use tram lanes as well as their own bus lanes. Both are controlled by dinky little signals known as "negenoog", or nine-eyed, as they can have up to nine small lights in them to indicate stop, give way or direction travel is permitted. When on the main carriageway, buses obey the general traffic signals.
11) Lifting bridges - plenty of these, though we were never held up by one. This is the Low Country, and you are never far from water. God made the world, but the Dutch built Holland.
12) Canals, drains and ditches - by the side of many roads, and rarely will you find a barrier or fence between road and a possible free car wash. Amsterdam was the exception to this, but even there the barriers are low, except over bridges.

All in all, driving was not difficult. The hairiest moments were on the Belgian motorways, and the lowest standard of motorway was the French A16 between the border and Dunkirk ferry port. The motorway between Utrecht and Amsterdam is magnificently wide, I lost count of the number of lanes across four carriageways at one point. Even so, there were episodes of congestion. NL is a very densely-populated country, especially within the "Randstad", the area covering Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague.

Fun fact: Schiphol airport is about 3m below sea level, and is within the Haarlemmermeer Polder, a lake drained quite some time ago.

Any questions?

[c2R]

The A16 was built fairly quickly in the 90s, and was a massive improvement on the old N1. However, I think that the section through Dunkirk was a much earlier bypass, if memory serves correctly I think it was an early 80s piece of road.

Then, the section immediately across the border into Belgium was constructed much later, and much more slowly (from the junction with the A10 towards the border.

[Chris Bertram]

However, I think that the section through Dunkirk was a much earlier bypass, if memory serves correctly I think it was an early 80s piece of road.

That wouldn't surprise me. The junctions are pretty closely spaced, and the speed limit is down to 90 km/h for the section nearest the town. It has the feel of a by-pass rather than a strategic motorway.

[c2R]

However, I think that the section through Dunkirk was a much earlier bypass, if memory serves correctly I think it was an early 80s piece of road.

That wouldn't surprise me. The junctions are pretty closely spaced, and the speed limit is down to 90 km/h for the section nearest the town. It has the feel of a by-pass rather than a strategic motorway.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the limit has recently been dropped (along with one of the sections in Calais) from 110 to 90, which at night seems terribly slow. I think the thing about France is that the motorways until recently have done little to avoid any population centres.

The same is true of Antwerpen - essentially nearly every long distance motorway journey in Belgium includes a trip either on the Brussels ring or Ring Antwerpen. A load of work was done about ten years ago around Antwerpen which has improved the situation slightly, but the main problem is that it is missing the northern part of the inner ring, and north western/southern parts of the outer ring.

I've got an atlas somewhere from the 80s that showed a proposed connection from Ranst to meet the motorway to Ghent which would be useful (the satellite images of Ranst show the intersection is incomplete).

This wikipedia page goes into detail about the whole sorry story of the inner ring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oosterweel_Link

I take it you took the R2 tunnel rather than the N62 further out (also worth a trip).

[Chris Bertram]

I take it you took the R2 tunnel rather than the N62 further out (also worth a trip).

No, we actually ended up on the N49a, therefore going through the northern urban area. This tunnel - the Waaslandtunnnel - is not tolled, but is not approached by motorways at either end. Some urban roadworks held us up a bit in this area as well, but I was thankful that I'd shelled out on the TomTom Western Europe map. While we could have navigated the easiest route just using the trusty Michelin road atlas, a 30 minute delay on the R1 was being advertised and the sat-nav took us away from it. I'm glad we didn't get sent out to the R2, it would have been a very long way out.

I'm not sure where you'd put the NE part of the Antwerp inner ring - there seem to be a lot of docks in the way.

[FleetlinePhil]

A very interesting OP, most of which I would fully agree with. Actually I have only experienced the Dutch motorway network by coach, and that was over 25 years ago, but I have more recent experience of travelling by public transport and on foot.

There is one slight factual error, however, if I may point it out:

9) Trams - narrow gauge compared with modern UK trams, therefore with narrower bodies, and felt a bit cramped inside.

The trams in Amsterdam are the same standard gauge as those here, 4ft 8 1/2 inches or 1435mm. I have been trying to find dimensions for them, without much success, but similar older trams in Den Haag are quoted as having a body width of 2.35m. Compare that with Manchester's current fleet quoted as 2.65m and yes, they are significantly narrower and, I agree, feel less spacious. I can't find a figure for the Midland Metro to compare, as their Urbis 3 trams are available in various widths, it appears.

On a different note:

7) Bikes. They were everywhere, and almost all were the heavy-framed sit-up-and-beg type known as Oma-fietsen, or "Granny bikes". They were often fitted with baskets and/or child seats fore or aft, sometimes with a windshield as well. There were almost no Lycra warriors to be seen, though I did see a couple on an inter-urban route. The Dutch appear to prefer to keep athletic cycling off the public roads.

How very true, and how rarely acknowledged! The Dutch (and Belgians), in my experience, use cycles sensibly as a means of urban transport. They cycle at a reasonable speed, sitting upright so they are at the eye-level of pedestrians. Yes, as a pedestrian you have to be wary, but I have never found them a problem. Perhaps Cambridge is the nearest you might get in the UK to the Dutch approach?

[Chris Bertram]

There is one slight factual error, however, if I may point it out:

9) Trams - narrow gauge compared with modern UK trams, therefore with narrower bodies, and felt a bit cramped inside.

The trams in Amsterdam are the same standard gauge as those here, 4ft 8 1/2 inches or 1435mm.

Ah right, my eyes must have been deceiving me, perhaps it was because I was looking at embedded track rather than sleeper-mounted track. And I didn't have a tape measure handy! But they were definitely more cramped internally. I would assume the Amsterdam trams are a closed system, so a narrower gauge would have been a possibility, historically many municipal tram systems have adopted smaller gauges than standard. Birmingham's were, IIRC, 2'6" gauge, for instance, or so I was told by one of the resident tram buffs at the museum at Crich.

[Owain]

SWMBO and I spent most of last week in the Netherlands. We took the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, and drove up through France and Belgium, crossing into NL between Antwerp and Breda.

Excellent - it sounds like a great trip, and I hope you enjoyed yourselves!

Belgian motorways often have wide central reservations, wide enough to place offside direction signs in, so you should have no excuse for missing your exit.

Something I had never noticed before this year, is that Italian motorways have regular marker posts on the central barrier, indicating:

1) how far along the motorway you are

2) the distance to the next services

3) the distance to the next exit

These can be extremely useful. They are located every kilometre, and I think the signs show the distance to the next services and to the next exit in turn.

[Burns]

Fun fact: Schiphol airport is about 3m below sea level, and is within the Haarlemmermeer Polder, a lake drained quite some time ago.

Schiphol is a fun place to negotiate when you've got a short connection window. I had 45 minutes between flights once and after walking from one side of the airport to the other, through passport control (remind me why we're not part of the Schengen area again?), I eventually reached my gate, only for a bus to drive us round to a plane that was near enough right where I entered the airport to begin with.

[ScottB5411]

Me and the better half are going to Amsterdam for 3 days before we head to my mum's in Preston. Our hotel is out at the airport (I had enough points for the whole stay there) and we'll be going in and out on the train. Wife has never been to Holland before so she's looking forward to it and the Christmas markets at the various squares. We also have a dinner cruise on the canals that she doesn't know about

[Octaviadriver]

We've been to and through Netherlands several times and I'd generally agree with the comments and observations in the OP.

Yes, the motorway speed limit in Dunkirk used to be 110kph, but is now 90kph.

We always seem to have delays getting around Antwerp, such as below from 2014. The main delay was the broken down truck in photo 3.

Coming back, the satnav warned of delays and it took us off the motorway and through Antwerp. It probably didn't save any time, but it was interesting to see the city rather than be stuck looking at someones exhaust pipe.

Last time we went to Netherlands, we stayed in Eindhoven and I got a bit lost trying to find our hotel. It was very near the motorway, but you had to turn off it some way before and follow a parallel road as there were very few junctions around the city. It's a good idea, but not when you're uncertain of where you're going!

Our next trip abroad is planned for April when we're going to Lithuania and we'll pass through Netherlands on the way there and back. I retire at the end of this month, so we'll have more time to visit a few places on the way and not have to rush to fit everthing into a 2 week break.

[Viator]

Birmingham's [trams] were, IIRC, 2'6" gauge, for instance, or so I was told by one of the resident tram buffs at the museum at Crich.

3'6'' (1067 mm), like the railways in New Zealand, South Africa, and (for the most part) Japan, Shinkansen apart.

[fras]

The reason the trams are narrower on the Dutch systems than those on UK systems is because the systems are much older, and the tracks were installed a long time ago when the trams were narrower and probably had to fit down some narrow streets. I remember one route in Amsterdam where trams went down a very narrow street, and in order to turn left onto a street that ran alongside a canal, the track went out onto a semi-circular section built-out into the canal to make the curve.
Blackpool, over the years re-spaced their promenade tracks so they could operate 8 foot wide cars, the Roberts Coronation cars of the early 50s were 8' wide.

Tram buffs might enjoy looking at this marvellous junction !
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.35937 ... 312!8i6656

Birmingham trams were 3' 6" gauge as were all the trams of the Black Country. Birmingham ran services to Wednesbury and also West Bromwich which were outside the city boundary.

[owen b]

The A16 was built fairly quickly in the 90s, and was a massive improvement on the old N1. However, I think that the section through Dunkirk was a much earlier bypass, if memory serves correctly I think it was an early 80s piece of road.

Then, the section immediately across the border into Belgium was constructed much later, and much more slowly (from the junction with the A10 towards the border.

When I lived in Brussels (1994-96) I used to do that run frequently. The section across the border from Ghyvelde to Veurne (N8) wasn't even under construction at that time by my recollection. However I have a 1998 Michelin road atlas of France which shows it as open.

[FleetlinePhil]

The Netherlands used to have a network of interurban tramways too, some of which were standard gauge and some metre gauge. There were lines W from Amsterdam to Haarlem and Zandvoort, and N to Volendam and Purmerend that were in the latter category. I am not sure of the justification for the narrower gauge, presumably some economy of construction?
In Belgium, I think virtually all of the Vicinal interurban network was metre gauge. Its one major survivor, the tram along the coast, uses quite hefty trams running almost entirely on reserved tracks at some speed.
In contrast, Brussels trams are standard gauge but negotiate some very tight places, and when I had my first experience of riding at the back of a double-articulated car in the early 90's, seemed very narrow. Antwerp's are metre gauge but appear identical in body width to those in Ghent that are standard gauge!

[c2R]

Last time we went to Netherlands, we stayed in Eindhoven and I got a bit lost trying to find our hotel. It was very near the motorway, but you had to turn off it some way before and follow a parallel road as there were very few junctions around the city. It's a good idea, but not when you're uncertain of where you're going!

Again, that's been my route through to visit family in Germany for years - the improvements they've made here are unbelievable with widening and collector-distributor lanes added - previously, all the local and north/south and east/west traffic funneled onto a piece of D2M with closely spaces junctions. A2 south traffic then had a large roundabout interchange underneath the A67 (which had priority). It suffered worse congestion than Antwerpen which has been resolved.

[Chris Bertram]

The Netherlands used to have a network of interurban tramways too, some of which were standard gauge and some metre gauge. There were lines W from Amsterdam to Haarlem and Zandvoort, and N to Volendam and Purmerend that were in the latter category. I am not sure of the justification for the narrower gauge, presumably some economy of construction?
In Belgium, I think virtually all of the Vicinal interurban network was metre gauge. Its one major survivor, the tram along the coast, uses quite hefty trams running almost entirely on reserved tracks at some speed.
In contrast, Brussels trams are standard gauge but negotiate some very tight places, and when I had my first experience of riding at the back of a double-articulated car in the early 90's, seemed very narrow. Antwerp's are metre gauge but appear identical in body width to those in Ghent that are standard gauge!

We were staying in Volendam. No trams running there now From reading the road atlas, it looks like the Belgian coast tram mainly runs in the median of dual carriageways.

Amsterdam does have some narrow streets where the tram tracks reduce to single line bidirectional running, but this didn't seem to cause problems.

Oh, and as a side-benefit of making this trip, I now know how to convert my speedo from mph to km/h, it being a TFT display that only shows one or other at any one time (I already knew how to make the sat-nav work in metric). Slightly to my surprise, it converted the fuel economy readout from mpg to km/l, rather than showing the more usual European consumption readout of l/100km.

[Owain]

Yes, the motorway speed limit in Dunkirk used to be 110kph, but is now 90kph.

There's a camera on the central reservation somewhere between Calais and Dunkirk.

My dad (who is not a racer like me!) is currently waiting to find out if the French police bother to track you down in the UK!

[Johnathan404]

It was on Zuiderzeeweg where I discovered what it must be like to be a tourist in the UK: a ludicrous 30 km/h speed limit on an open road and no idea how enforcement works, but a queue of traffic behind me.

[Chris Bertram]

A couple of non-motoring observations:

1) The Dutch don't really do 4% abv session beers. Where we ate out, the beers, both from tap and from bottle, were often 6% abv or higher, especially anything called "dubbel" or "tripel". Thankfully, you don't drink these in pints, more usually in 25cl or 33cl glasses. Heineken was everywhere, of course, at 5% the nearest thing to a standard UK lager, and this was available in 50cl glasses. A few lower-strength options included wheat beers, Guinness (4%), Amsterdam Radler, effectively a shandy at 2%, and 0% beers for the drivers.

2) A mystery was solved, for me at least - how the Dutch pronounce "ui". We were on a tram to the Anne Frank Huis, and the in-car announcement pronounced it "house". A city square called Spui was also pronounced "Spow". So that settles it for me. This also means that bruin = brown, and zuid (south) = zoud to our English ears. Anyone got any contrary evidence?