Schiphol railway station

Infobox NS-station
station=Schiphol


stationscode=Shl
opened=1978
platforms=6
latdeg=52 |latmin=18 |latsec=32 |londeg=4 |lonmin=45 |lonsec=42
positiekaartnaam=Randstad N

Schiphol railway station is a major passenger station located directly beneath the terminal complex of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and operated by the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The station is accessible via six escalators located on the main concourse of the airport.

History

The station was opened on 21 December 1978, this station was part at street level and was demolished to be replaced in 1995 by its current station.

In 1978 you could travel only to stations Amsterdam Zuid WTC and Amsterdam RAI. and in the other direction towards Leiden, Den Haag and Rotterdam. To get to Amsterdam Centraal you had to travel to RAI and change onto tram 4. This was improved in 1986 when the Amsterdam Ring railway (Westtak) was opened linking these two points.

Due to Schiphol airport being the most important airport in the Netherlands the station has become an important part of the network.

Destinations

There are several trains an hour to Amsterdam Central Station, and frequent services to the rest of the country as well. These include intercity services to The Hague, Rotterdam, Eindhoven as well as to the northern and eastern parts of the country through Amersfoort.

A new flyover also provides direct connections to Utrecht and the south of the country. This so-called "Utrechtboog" opened on March 12th, 2006. It connects two existing lines (Utrecht-Amsterdam Central Station and Schiphol-Weesp) and is located more or less between the stations "Amsterdam RAI" and "Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA". It replaces the necessary interchange at Duivendrecht station.

An hourly night train connects Schiphol with Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Delft, Leiden and The Hague between one and five in the morning.

Thalys International operates a TGV-like rail service between Amsterdam, Schiphol, The Hague, Rotterdam, Antwerp Central Station, Brussels South Station and the Gare du Nord in Paris. It runs at high speed between Brussels and Paris, and from 2009 also between Antwerp and Schiphol (over the new HSL-Zuid).

Train Services

There are four types of train series in Holland, these are:
*Intercity These are express trains calling at few stations. The fastest type of train in Holland.
*SneltreinThese are semi-fast services calling at some stations on the route. A mix between Intercity and Stoptrein. To be phased out in December 2008.
*Stoptrein These are trains that stop at all or most of the stations. Often more local than long distance.
*Sprinter These are trains that stop at all stations and mostly are operated by SGMm 'Sprinter' train sets.

Other facilities

Schiphol Plaza is the shopping center before customs, hence not only for air travellers, but also for people who just change train here, etcetera. There is a medium-sized supermarket, Food Village, that is open until midnight seven days a week. Soft-drink and candy machines are available on the platforms, as in most Dutch train stations.

Lines

ee also

*Railway stations in the Netherlands