Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf
Background
Locale	Amsterdam
Transit type	Tram Metro Ferry Bus
Annual ridership	260 million[1]
Operation
Began operation	1900
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (GVB) is the municipal transport company of Amsterdam. As of 2007, the GVB is an independent corporation wholly owned by the city of Amsterdam.

Contents 1 History 2 Network 3 Metro 4 Tram/light rail 5 Ticketing 6 External links 7 References

History

The forerunner of the GVB, the Gemeentetram Amsterdam (GTA) (Amsterdam Municipal Tramway), was established in 1900 by the city after it acquired a private tram company. In 1925, it introduced its first bus line. In 1943, the GVB acquired its current form when Gemeentetram merged with Gemeenteveren Amsterdam, the municipal ferry company.

Network

The GVB operates a number of public transportation networks in and around the city of Amsterdam, including:

• 3 metro lines, partly elevated, no level crossings.
• 1 light rail (sneltram = fast tram) line to the neighboring town Amstelveen, partly using metro tracks, partly on the street with its own lanes, and with level crossings (Route 51).
• 17 tram routes, on street, partly mixed with all other traffic, partly on lanes shared with buses and taxis, and partly on separate lanes.
• many bus routes; buses often mix with other traffic, but sometimes on lanes shared with trams and taxis, or for buses only.
• Several ferries across the IJ; at least one is frequent, operating 24 hours a day, free of charge.

In addition, a new metro line, the North/South line, is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Metro

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge (standard gauge)

• Amsterdam, Diemen, Ouder-Amstel
  • power 750 volt DC

Tram/light rail

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge (standard gauge)

• Amsterdam, Diemen, Amstelveen
  • power 600 volt DC
  • the line to Amstelveen partly runs on metro track, therefore the light rail vehicles on this line are capable of using both 600 volt DC and 750 volt DC
  • tram routes
    • 1 Amsterdam Centraal (Centraal Station or CS) - Osdorp De Aker
    • 2 CS - Nieuw Sloten
    • 3 Zoutkeetsgracht - Muiderpoort station
    • 4 CS - Rai NS
    • 5 CS - Amstelveen Binnenhof
    • 7 Slotermeer - Leidseplein - Flevopark
    • 9 CS - Diemen Sniep
    • 10 Van Hallstraat - Azartplein
    • 12 Amstel station - Station Sloterdijk
    • 13 CS - Geuzenveld Lambertus Zijlplein
    • 14 Slotermeer - Dam - Flevopark
    • 16 CS - Free University Medical Center (Vrije Universiteit Medisch Centrum or VUMC) via Vijzelgracht
    • 17 CS - Osdorp Dijkgraafplein
    • 24 CS - VUMC via Leidsestraat
    • 25 CS - President Kennedylaan (cut back in 2012 from Passenger Terminal)
    • 26 CS - IJburg

Route 6 (Plantage Parklaan - Leidseplein - VUMC) was discontinued in 2006.

• • Recent Projects:
    • IJ-line (26) (opened in May 2005)
    • Cargo tram (pilot from January 2007)
    • 155 new Combino trams from Siemens AG Verkehrstechnik, built in 2002-2003]

Ticketing

The Amsterdam public transport network falls under the National Tariff System of the Netherlands and the GVB has a few of its own tickets, notably the 24-, 48- and 72- hour tickets. The electronic OV-chipkaart has been the only ticketing system valid in the Amsterdam metro since the summer of 2009, and in the rest of the network (tram, bus) since June 2010. Most trams carry conductors, but as they no longer stamp passengers' strippenkaarten their role has been deskilled; it now consists in ensuring security along with selling the occasional OV-chipkaart and optionally announcing the stops.

External links

• GVB (official) (Dutch)
• GVB (official) (English)
• Tram map
• Tram Travels (Sporvognsrejser): GVB
• UrbanRail.Net

References