Good news for night owls. From January 1, 2018, Rotterdam will be the first city in the Netherlands to experiment with a night metro.
Research conducted by Rotterdam’s transport service, RET, has shown that there are considerably more passengers travelling late at night on Fridays and Saturdays than during weekdays with an average difference of around 1.300.
The plan is, therefore, to allow the metro to extend its timetable an extra hour in a trial that will take place at weekends starting in January 2018.
In practical terms, this will mean that the last train from Rotterdam Central Station on Friday and Saturday nights will be at 1:30 am instead of 12:30 am.
Whilst Rotterdam city council will be footing the bill of approximately 700.000 euros, according to AD, they hope that other city councils will chip in.
There has also been talk of charging a slightly higher fee on the OV Chipkaart for those who want to make use of the service, but this is still to be confirmed, and will most likely not happen until after the year-long trial comes to an end.
D66 Coalition Chairman Samuel Schampers states, "For now it is a test year. We do not know exactly how many people will use the service, but we are convinced that it will encourage people to stay out in the city longer.”
According to Schampers, many people who visit the city refrain from embracing Rotterdam's nightlife because they fear they will miss their last train. The extra hour will, therefore, encourage visitors to stay in the city longer.
"We believe that this additional hour can boost nightlife and cultural institutions. This longer stay will determine the liveliness of the city."
Schampers concluded that if the trial shows a great need for a night metro, then they will commence with rolling out a longer nighttime schedule.