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Noorderkempen station, an analysis

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    When I started writing this article I originally had intended to write this in a similar vein to my article about Lage Zwaluwe station( Which can be found here! ). This was mostly because in my kneejerk reaction, embodied Noorderkempen station much of the same problems as Lage Zwaluwe station. Far away from any meaningful settlements, poor bus connections, little in the way of facilities etc etc etc. As I began writing the article however I began to realize that I didn't as much disliked the station itself as much as I disliked getting to the station. Unlike Lage Zwaluwe has Noorderkempen station actually quite a lot going for it, it is however held back by the infrastructure around it and the strange decisions made by De Lijn(the Flemish bus company). So today I am taking a departure from complaining about the Netherlands to complain about Belgium instead. There are many things to complain about in Belgium. To the point that complaining about Belgium has almost become a c...
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The failures of the Dutch highspeed rail project

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  Recently the high-speed rail company Eurostar announced that they were considering scrapping their services to the Netherlands in the coming years due to increasing reliability problems, capacity problems and delays for the passengers(1). If implemented this would practically remove all proper high-speed rail from the Netherlands and cut us off from connections to London and Paris. While I do not like Eurostar much with their extremely high prices and seats being difficult to book on a short notice do I however completely understand where they are coming from and do I find this a troubling development.   Let me be clear. High speed rail is a good thing. If implemented properly it can pull large urban areas closer together and put short to medium distance flights out of business, something that is very much needed if we are truly serious about becoming a more sustainable society and for tackling climate change. However there is the crux. If implemented properly. It has become...
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An Idiot's Guide to Dutch politics(2023 edition)

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For Atmospheric reasons I suggest putting on Julius Fucik's "Entry of the Gladiators" Another round of elections is coming to the Netherlands, and this means that every pseudo-intellectual in this godforsaken swamp land suddenly feels the need to spew out their garbage because they think that their "well researched takes" contain gems of insight that clearly only their massive intellect could figure out. Of course in reality are most other people fed up with them ruining parties and social meetings with their inane bullshit but that won't stop them! Thankfully as a connoisseur of garbage myself am I also eligible for giving my own takes, which means I can join in on the fun! I have therefore made for you all a simple guide which explains how we got here in the first place, how the elections work in the Netherlands and what parties are participating and where they stand. I shall then finish off with my own recommendations, as depressing as they are. - How did...
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