Engineering office Municipality of Groningen
Description
We would like to invite you to attend a visit to the Ingenieursbureau of the municipality of Groningen on Thursday afternoon, 26 March 2009.
This visit will be held in the building of the municipality's Spatial Planning/Economic Affairs department.
At this meeting, Joost Visser, department head of this municipal department, will talk about the "Regiotram" project. The project is part of the offensive to ensure better accessibility for Groningen city and, in a broader sense, the entire Groningen-Assen Regiovision area in the future.
This is an extremely interesting and fascinating substantive lecture, which you should definitely not miss. To give you a small foretaste:
WHAT IS THE REGIOTRAM?
There will be a tram in the city of Groningen. But the RegioTram is much more than that.
In most tram cities, city trams run. In Groningen, we choose a different vehicle: a RegioTram. The difference is that this tram is also suitable for longer distances. Compared to a city tram, the vehicles are longer and slightly wider, with more seats and a higher maximum speed. RegioTrams can be equipped with an electric and a diesel engine, so they can also run on non-electrified tracks. RegioTrams are thus ideally suited for regional public transport.
Incidentally, not all vehicles have to be RegioTrams. For lines that do not run through the region, 'ordinary' city trams are also fine. When constructing the tram line, we will already gear the curves, stops, platforms, viaducts and bridges to the RegioTram.
RegioTram is the idea of the Groningen Assen Region, the Province of Groningen and the Municipality of Groningen to improve the accessibility of the region and city in a sustainable way.
WHAT DOES REGIOTRAM MEAN FOR THE CITY OF GRONINGEN?
RegioTram offers opportunities to get many people from a to b in one go, but a tram offers more.
Groningen fulfils an important central function for the region. Every day, 160,000 people visit the city and that number is increasing rapidly. Anyone who sees the traffic jams and the number of buses at the Hoofdstation and Grote Markt knows that more of the same will not provide a long-term solution.
The arrival of RegioTram will keep the city accessible in the future. Buses will disappear from Grote Markt, making the city centre more liveable, and through smart incorporation it will provide opportunities for the new East and North wall of Grote Markt and the Forum.
RegioTram is more than just public transport. There are also economic and social opportunities. Locations along the line are sought-after places for entrepreneurs and for property developers to invest in. This will create more "life". Districts and neighbourhoods will get a new impetus. Opportunities for urban regeneration and thus a better image are created.
Thus, the tram lines form those new lifelines for the city.
WHEN WILL THE REGIOTRAM COME?
When the first RegioTram passes through d
The afternoon will begin at 2pm. At around 3.30 pm - after the lecture and substantive questions - there will be an opportunity for discussion. Here, substantive but also policy and organisational aspects can be raised. The afternoon will end at around 4.30 pm. For those who really like it, there will of course be the possibility to talk for longer.
Location
Engineering office Municipality of Groningen
Gedempte Zuiderdiep 98, 9711 HL Groningen
Organiser
Region North
Name and contact details for information
Further information from Piet Dijkshoorn using the e-mail address below, or from Klaas Leguit, e-mail: k.s.leguit@hccnet.nl.