A2 railroad crossing


The A2 railroad crossing was the only straightforward intersection of a motorway with a railway line in the Netherlands. At this junction, the Aalsmeer - Nieuwersluis-Loenen railway line crossed the A2 highway. The railway crossing was actively protected and was in operation from 1954 to 1986.

The Aalsmeer Railroad Line - Nieuwersluis-Loenen was opened in 1914, but was only used for freight transport since 1950. In 1954 the A2 motorway was opened between Utrecht and Amsterdam, which crossed the railway line between the stations Oukooperdijk and Nieuwersluis-Loenen near Loenersloot. In the post-war period, too little money was available to build a viaduct or bridge. Because it was only sporadically a freight train crossing the line and the highway in the early years was not yet used so intensively, it was decided to cross the track on one level.

Initially, the security only consisted of warning lights, but these were soon replaced by railways. Although only a few trains per day drove across the line, the closed tracks led regularly to life-threatening situations and a few clashes of cars entering the railways at high speed. During a frost period, a chain collision occurred at the railway crossing in 1962, with several deaths falling. Because of this unsafe situation, it was decided that police should be on every train that had to cross the A2. The service agent determined when it was safe enough to close the trees.

At the end of the 1960s, it was still considered to build a railroad viaduct, but after the coal mining collapsed, the railway line became even less important and the existing situation was maintained. One of the last major users was the demolition company Koek in Mijdrecht, where old equipment from the Dutch Railways was demolished.

On the 30th of May 1986, the last train left the A2. In 1987 the railways, railways and warning lights were removed. Source 52° 12′ 45″ NB, 4° 59′ 13″ OL

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