Taxi stand Amsterdam Central Station moved to the rear end of the station

This week, the taxi stand in front of the Central Station of Amsterdam has been moved to the back side of the station. It remains to be seen whether the new location is a very practical one.

The good news is that, currently, there are not so many complaints about the taxi drivers at the Central Station. As per tradition, Amsterdam taxi drivers had a reputation of being impolite, refusing short rides and ripping off tourists. Apparently, refusing access to the taxi waiting line at Central Station, for taxi drivers who can't behave, has paid off.

The new location, at the North side of the Central Station, also has a waiting line with a lift gate, essentially the same system. The license plates of the taxis waiting in line are scanned and appear on an electronic notice board. One by one they are called forward to pick up a customer. New is that every fourth taxi is a 'clean' (i.e. completely electric) taxi. This is to stimulate that taxi companies invest in clean technology.

What may be problematic for the new situation is that tourists normally will leave the train station at the main entrance, at the South end. The South end is where the old city is located, all museums and attractions, and most hotels.
From now on, on the large station square you will no longer find a taxi stand. Taxi customers must find their way to the taxi stand at the other side of the station. The taxi stand is out of sight here.

In addition, the signposting of the new location is poor/almost absent. They put up a yellow sign on the old taxi stand location, with an arrow pointing to the new location. Tourists have to go back into the Central Station building, where they are left without any direction. Maybe this will change in the near future.

A second issue may be that the new pick-up location is right next to a new bicycle lane. They are building a new bicycle tunnel under the Central Station to connect the South end with the North end. The tunnel is expected to be very busy with bicycles, pedestrians and mopeds, heading, or racing, for the (extremely busy) ferry connection to Amsterdam North.
The bicycle tunnel exits right at the location of the taxi pick-up location.
At the moment of writing this article, the tunnel is not yet open, so whether this becomes a problem is a matter of speculation.

For those wondering: the taxi stand is now located at the far North-West end of the station, right across from the landing point of the Buiksloterweg ferry to Amsterdam North. If you walk through the station to the North end, in the last hallway you turn left. Where you exit the building, that is where the new taxi stand is located.

On October 8 the new taxi stand will be officially opened.