Nijkerk–Ede-Wageningen railway

Nijkerk–Ede-Wageningen railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	The Netherlands
Termini	Nijkerk railway station Ede-Wageningen railway station
Operation
Opened	1902-1903
Operator(s)	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Technical
Line length	30 km (19 mi)
No. of tracks	single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Legend Line from Amersfoort 0.0 Nijkerk Line to Zwolle Driedorp Appel Dusschoten Voorthuizen Line from Amersfoort Line to Apeldoorn Barneveld-Kruispunt 12.2 Barneveld Noord 14.7 Barneveld Centrum 21.9 Lunteren 27.7 Ede Centrum Line from Utrecht 29.6 Ede-Wageningen Line to Arnhem

The Nijkerk–Ede-Wageningen railway is a railway line in the Netherlands currently running from Barneveld to Ede-Wageningen. The part between Nijkerk and Barneveld has been demolished. It is also called the Valleilijn ("valley line") or Kippenlijn ("chicken line") in Dutch.

The line

The Valleilijn is a single track line with passing places at Barneveld Centrum and Lunteren. It runs through the valley where there are many chicken farms and was therefore originally called the Kippenlijn until a project was launched on 10 December 2006.

The line has interchanges with other railway services at Amersfoort and Ede-Wageningen.

History

The line opened on 1 May 1902 as the Kippenlijn from Nijkerk to Ede. The line between Nijkerk and Barneveld Noord closed in 1937 and the whole line was shut on 7 September 1944 because of World War II.

The line re-opened on 20 May 1951 and was electrified for that date as well. The line operates as the Oosterspoorweg between Amersfoort and the Barneveld Noord junction. From there the line is 17 km long and takes 20 minutes to operate from Barneveld Noord to Ede-Wageningen.

Stations

The following stations are on the Valleilijn, including some possible interchanges:

• Amersfoort - Zwolle, Apeldoorn, Deventer, Utrecht, Hilversum, Amsterdam, Gouda, The Hague and Rotterdam
• Barneveld Noord - P&R Site, signposted off the A1 (Transferium). Previously known as Barneveld-Voorthuizen.
• Barneveld Centrum - Previously known as Barneveld Dorp.
• Lunteren
• Ede Centrum - Previously known as Ede Dorp.
• Ede-Wageningen - Utrecht and Arnhem

Previous stations

Driedorp, Appel, Dusschoten, Voorthuizen, Barneveld Kruispunt, Meulunteren, Doesburgerbuurt, Stompekamp and Ede Gemeentehuis.

Future stations

• Hoevelaken - To Open in 2010
• Barneveld Zuid - Planned

2006 Service improvements

Before 10 December 2006 the line was operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen but on that date Connexxion took over the service and made improvements.

Train

5 new Protos train sets were placed into service, to improve comfort on the line. They wear a special blue Valleilijn livery (See Gallery).

Buses

From the 10th December 2006 Veolia also relaunched the bus service 88 (Ede - Wageningen). A Fleet of brand new buses were placed into service in the same Valleilijn livery. This service operates up to every 10 minutes.

Passengers can connect with the train from/to Amersfoort.

Train services using the Valleilijn

Series	Train Type	Route	Material	Frequency
31300	Connexxion Stoptrein	Amersfoort - Barneveld Noord - Barneveld Centrum - Lunteren - Ede Centrum - Ede-Wageningen	Protos	2x per hour
31400	Connexxion Stoptrein	Amersfoort - Barneveld Noord - Barneveld Centrum	Protos	2x per hour (Not Sundays)

Gallery

• 

  Protos unit 5034 at Lunteren on 3rd May 2008

• 

  Protos unit 5034 at Ede Centrum on 16th December 2007

• 

  A Protos unit near Barneveld

• 

  A hired Mat '64 unit in Ede, before the service changing to Protos units

• 

  The 88 Bus at Ede-Wageningen

• 

  New bus stops were also put in along the 88 route