Rotterdam/Schiedam, December 2001 – What a spoiler. The gate to the construction site is wide open, as if the RET is luring the passerby to take a peek at the freshly constructed metro track. Those are the kind of offers you can’t refuse. There might be a better explanation though. Maybe a security officer is walking his beat nearby, or driving around, since the site is quite extensive. Whatever the reason, somebody neglected the gate and who are we to refrain from our civic duty. For all we know, something shady is going on here! Heading for the entrance of the metro tunnel, we learn no one’s here at all.
To add to the friendly welcome, a large gritted door giving way to a set of stairs has been left unlocked. They lead to tunnel opening. At the top of the stairs a tall wooden barricade blocks the access to the metro track. It takes three jumps to get high enough to grab the upper edge and swing ourselves over to the other side. It’s 10:30 p.m., we’re standing halfway up the Caland Track (Calandlijn), the longest of the two Rotterdam metro lines.
And, oh goody – not one surveillance camera in sight! Two hundred metres to the east, the metro ends at Marconiplein. Every few minutes you can hear a train coming to a grinding halt. The westbound track seemingly winds into infinity; that’s to say, all the way to De Akkers station! We decide to walk onwards in that direction. Both the rails and the power lines are already installed. In fact, to the eyes of the layman, the track seems pretty much ready for use; the RET won’t open it to the public until November 2002 however.
Next stop: Schiedam Central Station, where the metro meets the NS. We keep on walking along the metro track, from where we have a view of the train platform. Few people are waiting. Despite the late hour on this Saturday night, trains are still coming and going every two minutes. After Schiedam Central, we follow the track into a two-way tunnel.
Ah, it's the underground. The fluorescent lights are on, but we don’t know why. (Days later, the local weekly reports the RET was testing the powerlines.) Hundreds of metres down the subterranean track, the second stop appears: Parkweg Station. Egg-shaped windows in the roof and shiny tiles give the platform a futuristic atmosphere. The escalator to ground level is still neatly wrapped in plastic foil, just the way a couch is delivered into your living room. On the platform an unlocked room is filled with switch boxes and control panels. No buzzing sounds here (we later conclude that either the power test was already finished, or had yet to begin, or, maybe, the switch boxes weren’t part of the test at all.) After Parkweg, the track resurfaces from the underground to the world above. The stations at Troelstralaan and Vijfsluizen look nice, but they lack the futuristic touch of Parkweg.
As the chimneys of Pernis loom on the horizon, we enter familiar territory: why, it’s the Beneluxtunnel! We explored this tunnel last February, when it was still under construction. It’s now open to car traffic, metro passengers have to wait for their part of the tunnel.
By now we’ve walked six kilometres. Halfway through the tunnel our ragged feet decide that terminal De Akkers is a station too far. The full moon guides our return back to the barricade. At 3 a.m. twelve kilometers lie behind us. As we’re about to jump the barricade, we decide to follow the subsurfacial track to Marconiplein instead. The 200-metre walk is tense: it’s the bright fluorescent lights that aren’t helping the covert approach at all. A stealthy walk that at least muffles the sound of trotting brings us to the gate that seperates the old track with the new. The two platforms of Marconiplein are in full sight now. It’s deadly quiet. Not even a snoring tramp on one of the metal benches. The trains have stopped running over two hours ago.
The security camera aiming at the very gate we’re peeking through is our cue to make it for the exit. We return to the barricade and clamber back up and over the thick board - no frog jumping needed from this side - and dash through the still open gate. It hasn’t moved an inch since our entry.
