Flevo Ferries
In 1998 the company Flevo Ferries started a service between the two cities in Flevoland and Amsterdam. What looks like a good idea on paper, however, turned out to be quite a disappointment in practice. After all, there was a perfectly good train service between Lelystad and Amsterdam, which was faster and perhaps a bit better for the environment too. The boats needed to carry 700 passengers to break even, yet only 100 a day chose the boat. Choppy waters were inevitable.
Only two years of sailing
And that end came sooner than expected. As early as 14 March 2000 the service was wound up after the GVB (Amsterdam's public transport company) and Arriva, who had come on board, failed to make it profitable. Besides the competition from the train, the mooring point on Zeeburgereiland was also a problem. Centraal Station, where the other ferries dock, could not be reached because the Oranjesluizen locks lay on the route. Passengers therefore still had to change onto a bus to take them to Centraal Station. As a result, the Flevo Ferries never became a reasonable alternative to the train.
