Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway

Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway
Rijswijk station
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	The Netherlands
Termini	Amsterdam Centraal railway station Rotterdam Centraal railway station
Operation
Opened	1839-1847
Operator(s)	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Technical
Line length	86 km (53 mi)
No. of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Legend Line from Amersfoort Line to Utrecht Amsterdam Muiderpoort -1 Amsterdam Centraal from port of Amsterdam Line from Schiphol 3 Amsterdam Sloterdijk Amsterdam Sloterdijk (Hemboog) Line to Zaandam   River Liede Haarlem Spaarnwoude River Spaarne 19 Haarlem to Uitgeest to Zandvoort   23 Heemstede-Aerdenhout 28 Hillegom 39 Voorhout Line from Schiphol 46 Leiden Centraal to Woerden   River Oude Rijn 48 De Vink 51 Voorschoten 57 Den Haag Mariahoeve Line from Zoetermeer and Rotterdam 59 Den Haag Laan van NOI Den Haag Centraal Line to Gouda 61 Den Haag Hollands Spoor   63 Den Haag Moerwijk 65 Rijswijk 69 Delft 71 Delft Zuid from Hoek van Holland   River Schiedamse Schie 82 Schiedam Centrum River Delfshavense Schie high speed line from Schiphol Line from Utrecht Centraal 86 Rotterdam Centraal Line to Breda

The railway from Amsterdam through Haarlem to Rotterdam (also: Oude Lijn, Dutch for "old line") runs from Amsterdam Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal through Haarlem.

From December 2011 it is used by all direct trains from Amsterdam to The Hague, and all direct supplement-free trains from Amsterdam to Rotterdam except those through Woerden.

History

It contains the oldest railway line in the Netherlands, and follows the old trekschuit canal route from Leiden via Haarlem to Amsterdam-Sloterdijk. It was opened between 1839 and 1847 by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij. The oldest section, opened in 1839, led from Amsterdam to Haarlem. Leiden and The Hague were reached in 1843, and the final section from The Hague to Rotterdam was opened in June 1847.^[1]

The opening of the Schiphollijn (1978) and the Amsterdam-Schiphol railway (1986) provided a shorter connection from Leiden through Schiphol to Amsterdam. Nevertheless, the old line via Haarlem has remained an important railway line.

References

1. ^ De Bosch Kemper, M.J. (1865) (in Dutch). Handleiding tot de kennis van de wetenschap der zamenleving en van het Nederlandsche staatsregt. Amsterdam: Johannes Müller. pp. 883. 

External links

• Website of the Nederlands Spoorwegmuseum, Utrecht