arnhem

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Airborne Arnhem

A relatively smaller city (of 160 thousand people) in the eastern part of the Netherlands, the capital of the province of Gelderland. Although not the largest one, it is a part of the Arnhem–Nijmegen metropolitan area (that also includes Nijmegen (177k people) and some adjacent municipalies, the plusregio regional structure was abolished in 2015, but these municipalities are still in the proximity). I was there only for a train transfer, but due to the proximity of the city centre and the railway station and the real compactness of the Dutch cities (like, really, these cities are well-planned and really compact) I was able to see something anyway. And the city is indeed really interesting – trolleybuses, the recent and earlier history, the crossroad on the routes between Nijmegen, Utrecht and Zuphten and also an important railway junction. Speaking of the railway junction, also check out Arnhem Centraal railway station.

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Let's talk about Arnhem trolleybus system, shall we? This is the only trolleybus system in the Netherlands still operating. There were plans before the war to convert their tram lines into trolleybuses (this way quite popular back then), but the destruction of the Arnhem tram depot was the starting point in the history of the system. The first trolleybus line was opened in 1949, between Arnhem and Velp. In the subsequent years the network was quickly expanded. Up until 1952 trolleybuses were not considered motor vehicles, therefore they needed no license plates and the city didn't have to pay corresponding taxes. Up until 1973 there used to be a separate smoking section, but it was removed when the smoking ban came into effect. The network was shortened in the late 60s and early 70s, due to declining popularity.

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Willemsplein was and still is an important traffic point in the city. Public transportation (initially in a form of a horse tram) was available from the Willemsplein since 1880. Until 1944 it was the central transfer point for the extensive tram network, where trams from all directions met every 10 minutes. After the II World War the square was redesigned. The place of an imporant garrison (Willemskazerne) was transformed into a parking lot, an adjacent Looierstraat was constructed and, what's most important, the trams disappeared, trolleybuses were put in their place. Furthermore, air raid shelters were built and used as a pedestrian underpass, however, due to their poor condition, abuse as a urinal and a common sense of danger, it was soon decided to close the tunnels with a fence and later a manhole cover. The redeveloped Willemsplein was opened in 1954. It was mostly widened and made more convenient for the motorized traffic (and less convenient for literally everyone else, as it was common back then). The east side was made a separate square, called Gele Rijders Plein, after the soldiers who were once stationed there. The square for modified several times after that - for example separate bus lanes were created in 1975. After the opening of a new bridge (named after Nelson Mandela), there was an increase in motorized traffic towards Willemsplein. In the mid-90s plans were made to divert the downtown traffic in a fixed direction. The plans included the construction of a tunnel from Willemsplein (today it's called Willemstunnel). Some streets nearby were closed for cars and the bus/trolleybus station was expanded. Today, the square forms a link between the city centre, railway station and Sonsbeek Park.

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The main railway station in the city. Arnhem was connected to the rest of the kingdom by the rail line called Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij. The railway was opened in May 14, 1845. Initially just three trains a day ran between Utrecht and Arnhem (today there is an IC line between these two cities every 15 minutes(!) and many, many more different connections - three physical rail lines meet at the station). As you might've noticed, the current station building is frankly not from the XIX century. Since the end of the 80s the idea that the station should be replaced with a new one arose. In 1987 it was decided that a completely new station will be built, instead of the renovation of the previous one. The first project, made by architect Teun Koolhaas, was choses in 1992, although it was later (1996) withdrawn due to the fact that this project required many houses nearby to be demolished. A new plan was chosen and the construction started shortly. In 2000 the new Willemstunnel was opened, with the parking garage in 2001. After that, in 2003, an adjacent covered bus station was constructed, followed by two office towers, Rhiine Tower and Park Tower (70m), in 2005. Finally, on October 1, 2006, a temporary station was created and the construction of the main station building began. An old, XIX century station was demolished at the end of 2007 (with the exception of a dome-shaped building on the north side of the station). Part of the old station was moved to a park to be reused as a tea house. The station was built in two phases - first the tunnel to the platforms and second the terminal itself. There were some difficulties with the construction costs and the building itself, as such futuristic building was quite difficult to build. The whole project was planned to be completed in early 2009 (with one platforms by the end of 2010), yet the first phase of the construction (tunnel) was cmopleted on July 2, 2011. The construction of the terminal began in 2012 and the terminal was opened on November 19, 2015. The name of the station was changed from Arnhem to Arnhem Centraal. Until then, only five busiest stations carried this prestigious title (Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hague and Leiden). Since 2000 the station has been served over the existing tracks by the ICE International Amsterdam-Koeln, later extended to Frankfurt and even Basel. Nonetheless, planes for a high-speed line from Arnhem to Utrecht were abandoned in 2001 due to insufficient travel time (IC trains between these two cities take just 34 minutes) and costs. The station received a lot of awards, quite understandable indeed.

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