Many of the stairs and escalators at Schiphol Airport station have been adapted and the lifts have been renovated. After the summer, the last stairs in the facade will also be replaced. These adjustments will create more free space on the platforms, allowing train passengers to board and disembark the train more quickly and improving traffic flow on the platforms. The renovation is one of the steps to increase the accessibility of Schiphol as a multimodal hub.
Now that most of the work has been completed, we celebrated this moment together with travellers and other users of this train station on Friday 28 June. On behalf of all cooperating parties, we handed out something tasty at the station. We also took this moment to reflect on the project together with those involved. We commemorated this milestone with short speeches by Rien Nederveen (ProRail), Patricia Vitalis (Schiphol), Arjan Bieshaar (Schiphol), Alfred Siemes (BAM), Irma Winkenius (NS).
Existing ascent and descent points (stairs, moving walkways and lifts) have been tackled over the past two years. The ramps have been replaced by fixed stairs, and the existing and new stairs have been widened. Single escalators have also been turned into double escalators. The existing lifts have been fitted with new glazing, fire doors and wall coating to provide a fire-resistant layer between the platform and Schiphol Plaza. The works will continue after the summer, when the remaining stairs and escalators will also be tackled.
The work was carried out by BAM Infra and largely took place during various train-free periods, to limit the inconvenience for travellers. The station remained accessible for both travellers and staff during the work. The demolition work involved the dismantling and removal of six moving walkways (ramps), each 45 meters long. The materials were removed using 280-meter-long work trains. The locomotives of the work train ran on sustainable HVO100 fuel, instead of diesel.