Decree of withdrawal from unsecured crossing Meuser Street.
ProRail and the municipality of Kerkrade intend to close the unsecured Meuserstraat level crossing. On November 17, the municipality made the final decision to do so. We would like to tell you more about this decision and the planning around an alternative route to get to the Worm Valley.
Why close?
The use of level crossings in the Netherlands is increasing. More trains are running and trains are becoming faster and quieter. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) has instructed ProRail to remove 180 publicly accessible Non-Actively Secured Level Crossings: NABO (unsecured level crossings in popular parlance) on the passenger network as soon as possible. At a NABO, people have to be on their own alert for an approaching train. This makes these level crossings life-threatening. Especially if they are on publicly accessible land. The Meuser Street crossing is one of them.
Withdrawal decision final
On November 17, 2022, the Kerkrade City Council decided to remove the unguarded railroad crossing Meuserstraat-Wormvoetpad in Kerkrade, between house numbers 126 and 128 on Meuserstraat, from public traffic.
This council decision (22Rb078) with the explanatory memorandum and statement of views can be viewed in the electronic municipal gazette (file number 510401) from November 24.
You can also find the documents on the City Council's website See section 5.4 for details.
This decision can be appealed to the court from Nov. 25, 2022, through Jan. 4, 2023.
Alternative
The community wants to keep the Worm Valley accessible to its residents and hikers. Before we can close the current level crossing, an alternative route must be available. Meanwhile, plans are well advanced to build a footpath at the Meuserstraat-Haanraderweg T-junction to an old cattle tunnel that runs under the railroad tracks. In this way we will keep the Worm Valley accessible to everyone on foot.
Planning
At this time, there is no final schedule. We are expected to begin work on the new walking trail in the second quarter of 2023. This will be completed in the fall of 2023. Only after this can we permanently close the existing crossing.
Inform
Of course, we will keep you informed about our plans and the corresponding schedule. You can also find information about this project on the information page about NABOs on this website.
Do you have any questions?
If so, please feel free to contact ProRail. Or
call 0800 - 776 72 45 (free of charge). This can be done on weekdays between 08.00 and 18.30 and in the event of an
emergencies or serious nuisance also outside office hours.