The Noord/Zuidlijn will run directly below the central pedestrian passageway in Central Station.
New central metro station hall
With 62,500 passengers per day, Central Station will be the largest public transportation junction in the Netherlands. The construction of the Noord/Zuidlijn also forms an opportunity to undertake a number of other building projects in and around Central Station. A central metro station hall will be built under Stationsplein. This underground hall will serve all metro lines, not just the Noord/Zuidlijn. There will be two entrances at the rear of Central Station, two at the front of the station and one on the Damrak side of the square. The Noord/Zuidlijn’s platforms will be located below the central hall at a depth of 15 metres. Stationseiland
The construction of the Noord/Zuidlijn was a reason for completely making over the Stationseiland complex. Everywhere in and around Central Station, municipal services and companies are working hard to make this important transportation junction ready for the future. One of the changes will be an enormous bus platform on the rear side of the station. For more information visit: www.stationseiland.amsterdam.nl Temporary rearrangement of Stationsplein
The construction activities taking place in connection with the Noord/Zuidlijn require a lot of room, especially on the front side of the station. That is why the buses of the Amsterdam public transport company (GVB) and Connexxion are using a temporary bus platform near the Kamperbrug, until the permanent bus station is finished at the rear of Central Station, adjacent the IJ River. Several tramlines have temporarily been assigned a place on the east side of Stationsplein. 
The sinking of caissons
The caissons or tunnel elements for the Noord/Zuidlijn are being made at street level in the water of the Damrak in front of Central Station. As soon as one of the caissons is finished, it is sunk approximately 10 metres below Normal Amsterdam Water Level (NAP) simply by washing away and sucking up the sand and soil from beneath the tunnel element. In this way, the caisson is submerged into the ground at a rate of about half a metre each day. The tunnel-boring machines for the Noord/Zuidlijn will depart from the two tunnel elements beside the Damrak that have already been submerged into the ground. The second tunnel element was built on top of the first one. A concrete tunnel element has also been built next to the central entrance bridge. This one is likewise submerged: only the work shafts stick out above the ground. It is through these shafts that the builders can enter the caisson. Stationsplein
Beneath Stationsplein a metro station hall is being built that in future will connect the Noord/Zuidlijn with the existing metro line. A section of the metro station’s wall will soon be finished. Starting in early March, 60 metre-long piles will be bored into the ground between these walls. The bored piles will serve as the foundation for the 'floor' on which the metro rails and the platforms will be built, but they will also function as support for the roof of the metro station hall. The concrete piles will be ‘extended’ by steel pillars that will carry the hall’s roof. It will take approximately two days to bore each pile into the ground. Construction work is taking place very close to the station building. Temporary scaffolding covered with red canvas has been set up in front of the building’s façade to protect it. This protective measure will be necessary at least until the end of May 2007. Rebuilding of bridge no. 303
Bridge no. 303, which was dismantled in connection with the construction of the Noord/Zuidlijn, is currently being rebuilt. From early February until the end of April 2007, circular cofferdams will be made in which, starting in May, the contractor will build the abutment and the piers of the bridge. To this end, steel sheet piling is being vibro-driven into the ground. People living and working nearby may find the noise from these building activities to be disruptive. In the station
At this moment, 90 tubular steel poles are being placed in the ground beneath the central pedestrian passageway of Central Station using a technique that was developed especially for this building project. The technique is called microtunneling. Two parallel rows of these tubular steel poles will be built. These will form an important part of the new foundation of the station building. As from mid-February, situation in the station’s central pedestrian passageway will change. The construction site on the west side will be made somewhat narrower, while a whole new construction site will be set up on the east side that will stretch nearly the entire length of the passageway. From February 2007, the contractor will be working behind the site fence on both sides of the central passageway. The stairs from the central tunnel to the train platforms are being changed. Each train platform will soon be accessible via a single broad stairway. Building activities began on 8 January 2007 for Platform 2 and will take approximately two weeks for each platform. The platforms will remain accessible for travellers throughout the building activities. Building activities in the IJ River behind CS
Circular cofferdams have been built behind the middle of Central Station for the escalators down to the future Noord/Zuidlijn metro station. The underwater-concrete floors are finished. These floors will function as girders or struts. The contractor will continue with the concrete works, including the floor and the walls of structures that will hold the escalators. This work will continue through August 2007.
If all goes according to plan, travellers will be able to bring a completely revamped Stationseiland into use in 2010.
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