AllAmsterdam

At this moment, Amsterdam has a small subway-network. The subway (in Dutch: Metro) is a very fast way of traveling within the city. Amsterdam is currently developing a new subway-line and planning a few additional lines. For you as tourist this information doesn't seem very important, but the construction work on the street does have its impact on the looks of the city and may also cause traffic diversions.

The first two subway-lines in Amsterdam were fully operational in 1982. Back then technology wasn't as advanced as today, so instead of digging a tunnel under the surface, they had to demolish entire cityblocks in order to create the subwaytunnels. This caused a lot of protest among the locals, because some beautiful neighborhoods in the old downtown were lost forever.
Today these subway lines are a very popular way to travel between Central Station and the edges of the city in the south and south-east. On the image on the right you can see a typical subway entrance from these 1982 lines. For you as tourist the following stations on these lines are important:

1. Centraal Station, the place where cabs, trains, trolleys, subway-trains and buses come together.
2. Nieuwmarkt, near the Waag and the Red Light District.
3. Waterlooplein, near the cityhall and the popular fleamarket on the Waterlooplein.

Construction on the Noord-Zuid lijn (North-South line)
From Centraal Station to deep into the south there is basically one long trail of traffic diversions and construction sites (for new subway stations). If you travel by bike or trolley you will probably not find any obstacles on your path, but if you rely on a car you just might. Overall the main downside for the tourist will probably be the visible chaos on the surface. Some nice parts of town are basically hidden behind it, making it hard to make good photos of these places.

This project will take quite a long time. The opening of the Noord-Zuidlijn is planned for July 2012.

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