Nijkerk–Ede-Wageningen railway

Nijkerk–Ede-Wageningen railway
Nijkerk–Ede-Wageningen railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	The Netherlands
Termini	Nijkerk railway station; Ede-Wageningen railway station;
Service
Operator(s)	1902-2006 Nederlandse Spoorwegen since 2006: Connexxion
History
Opened	1902-1903
Technical
Line length	30 km (19 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map
Route map
	Template:Infobox rdt

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
Hoevelaken
Barneveld Noord - P&R Site, signposted off the A1 (Transferium). Previously known as Barneveld-Voorthuizen.
Barneveld Centrum - Previously known as Barneveld Dorp.
Barneveld Zuid - opened at 2 February 2015
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.

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 10 December 2006 Veolia Transport 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 - Barneveld Zuid - Lunteren - Ede Centrum - Ede-Wageningen	Protos	2x per hour
31400	Connexxion Stoptrein	Amersfoort - Barneveld Noord - Barneveld Centrum - Barneveld Zuid	Protos, GTW	2x per hour (Mo-Fri until 8 pm, Sa until 5 pm, does not run on Sundays and in holidays)