Underground city to solve traffic problems

Civil engineering group Strukton, owned by state-owned Dutch Rail, dominates the front page of Tuesday's Telegraaf with its ambitious plans to shift much of Amsterdam's infrastructure underground.

Six-storey car parks could be built underneath the historic canals. Cinemas, shops, gyms, even the household waste disposal system, could all be moved deep into the city's clay soil, Strukton says.

The plan would bring an end to Amsterdam's traffic problems and bad air quality in one go, the company hopes. 'Above ground, the city has become a mess,' Strukton's Bas Obladen tells the paper. 'This plan would make it attractive again to residents and from an economic perspective.'

Struckton puts the cost of the project at €10bn and says it would take 10 to 20 years to complete.

Amsterdam city council executive Tjeerd Herrema points out to news agency ANP that the plan is entirely Strukton's own. 'It does not fit in with my vision of the city,' he says.