During 1978, Amsterdam Zuid station opened on a strategic rail route commonly known as the Zuidtak and formed the heart of the modern Zuidas business district, which houses several large banks, accounting and legal firms, as well as being the main public transport gateway for the VU University campus located just south of the station.

Over time, the station has played an increasingly important role in Amsterdam's transport strategy and passenger numbers have grown extensively since its opening.

In December 2014, an agreement for this expansion plan, which has been referred to as the Zuidasdok project, was signed by various public bodies, authorising it to proceed.

It lies on the strategic rail route known as the Zuidtak ("south branch"), which was completed in 1993, and connects Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the west to Weesp, in the east via Duivendrecht.

As a result, the station was extended during 2006, and has gradually played an increasingly important role in the city's transport strategy.

In that year, the Utrechtboog flyover was completed; as a result of this additional infrastructure, changes at Duivendrecht are no longer necessary for passengers from Schiphol to Utrecht and beyond.

[citation needed] The number of train services to handle passenger demands has been progressively increased over time.

[1] However, the official long-term projections of future passenger numbers have been reported to be expected to increase to an extent to which the station's current facilities shall be insufficient to properly accommodate the corresponding traffic.

The work including adding a turnback track and crossover east of the stop to turn back bidirectional trams.

[7] Following studies into various alternative means to providing greater capacity at Amsterdam Zuid, it was determined that the best likely option would involve the rerouting of the adjacent part of the A10 ring road.

[1] During March 2017, a contract to perform the design and construction of the Zuidasdok project was awarded to ZuidPlus, a joint venture between Fluor, Heijmans and Hochtief.

Being sufficiently financed and having received political acceptance, construction activities is anticipated to commence during 2019 and is scheduled for completion in 2028.

[1][10] Under the Zuidasdok project, the planned approach for redirecting the southern section of the A10 current traversing the site is to build a series of new tunnels to carry the motorway through instead, thereby opening up the surface space required to develop a high-quality and compact intermodal transport terminal around the existing Amsterdam Zuid station.

[11][10] The stated aims of the expansion programme are the improvement of traffic flow within the station, the location's transformation into a modern transport hub for the city, and the stimulation of new urban developments in and around neighbouring districts.

Various modifications are to be made as to enable faster transfers between the numerous train, metro, tram and bus services running through the station.