RijnGouweLijn

RijnGouweLijn
Light rail train
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Minimum radius	(?)

RijnGouwelijn
Line from Leiden 0 Alphen a/d Rijn Line to Utrecht via Woerden 6 Boskoop 9 Waddinxveen Noord 10 Waddinxveen A12 Motorway A20 Motorway Line from Den Haag Line from Rotterdam 18 Gouda Line to Utrecht

The RijnGouweLijn (English: The Rhine-Gouwe Line), or RGL, is a proposed light rail project in South Holland, Netherlands, that uses some new tracks and some existing tracks from the Gouda–Alphen aan den Rijn railway and the Woerden–Leiden railway. However, the new section may use bus rapid transit (BRT) instead.

From 2003 to 2009 light rail vehicles have operated on the Gouda–Alphen aan den Rijn railway, sharing these tracks with regular NS stock. As of 2013, only NS stock is used on the railway.

It will be the first system in the Netherlands where light rail vehicles will share heavy rail tracks with heavy rail trains, similar to the tram-train systems around Karlsruhe and Saarbrücken, Germany.

This shared track is from Gouda through Alphen aan den Rijn to Leiden. The existing heavy rail track will be adapted and seven additional stops will be added.

For Leiden, the plan was to have new track through the centre (Breestraat) at street level (alternatives that have been proposed were around the centre on existing track, or in a tunnel through the centre). The province of South Holland is in favour of this, but based on a referendum in March 2007 among the Leiden population, the municipality is against it. The province has threatened to force the municipality to accept a trajectory through Leiden. Following that, the municipality agreed to accept the RGL through the city. The province and municipality have now agreed that this will be the route through Hooigracht and Langegracht.

The proposed line passes through Leiden Centraal railway station and then uses the new tracks to Katwijk with a branch to Noordwijk.

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Wikipedia