The cost of a new northern rail link between Groningen and the coastal cities is expected to be four times higher than initially planned, deputy transport minister Chris Jansen has admitted.

The cabinet has earmarked €3 billion to develop a new route, but the infrastructure ministry has estimated that the preferred option will cost a total of €13.8 billion, excluding management and maintenance.

Jansen told breakfast TV show Goedemorgen Nederland that he was looking at whether additional funding could be sourced from the regions or Europe to build the so-called Lelylijn.

“It’s a huge challenge,” he said. “We’re short by a considerable sum.”

Money from Europe would have to wait, as Brussels has already allocated its budget up to 2028.

The ministry studied three options, with the cheapest costing €8.2 billion while the most expensive would require the cabinet to find €17.2 billion.

The “middle option”, the government’s preferred route, would be the most efficient in terms of attracting more passengers and shorten the journey time by around an hour.

Currently the journey between Amsterdam and Groningen takes more than two hours and requires passengers to change in Almere. The new line would route trains away from the stretch between Zwolle and Meppel, which is prone to delays.