Overview
- The new Groningen bus station had a ceremonial opening on Saturday and began full operations with buses using the on-site tunnel from Sunday, changing how vehicles enter and leave the city hub.
- Project leader Bas ten Berge said the station missed its planned 2023 completion because of COVID-19, the Suez Canal blockage, the war in Ukraine, and a 2024 fire that damaged the drivers’ canteen and technical rooms but was repaired.
- The station’s circular bay layout and tunnel remove crossings with pedestrians and cyclists and cut approach time, a change operators say makes boarding safer and timetables more reliable.
- OV Bureau Groningen Drenthe says the time savings release a budget of €1.5 million that will fund immediate changes in Drenthe’s timetable, and those changes took effect with a summer schedule on 28 June.
- The Drenthe adjustments include more afternoon and evening services on busy corridors such as Roden–Groningen, extra Saturday buses around Gieten, a reroute of line 33 via Bedrijventerrein Buitenvaart instead of Noordscheschut, and a return to the regular timetable on 16 August.