RijnGouweLijn

The RijnGouweLijn (written in camel case) or RGL is a light rail project in South Holland, Netherlands.

It will be the first system in the Netherlands where light rail vehicles will partly use heavy rail tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains, like the 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 there will be seven additional stops.

For Leiden it will probably be on new track through the center at street level (alternatives that have been proposed were around the center on existing track, or in a tunnel through the center).

It will pass through Leiden Centraal train station and then proceed on new track to Katwijk with a branch to Noordwijk.

The light-rail vehicles used are of type A32, produced by Bombardier-Adtranz in Vienna.

To start with they are used in the regular railway service between Gouda and Alphen aan den Rijn. The stations have been adapted: platforms have two levels, the low one for the new vehicles.

A disadvantage of the new vehicles, compared with trains, is that they have no toilet.

Official website: http://www.rijngouwelijn.nl/ (Dutch, with summary in English).