- Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Hollandse Ijzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
company_
fate = Merged with theMaatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen
successor =Nederlandse Spoorwegen
foundation =1837
defunct =1938
location =Amsterdam ,The Netherlands
industry =Rail Transport
key_people =
products =
num_employees =
parent =
subsid = The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij or HSM ("Hollands Iron Railway-Company") was the firstrailway company in theNetherlands founded on8 August 1837 as aprivate company , starting operation in1839 with a line betweenAmsterdam andHaarlem . The company remained operational till 1938, when it merged with theMaatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS) to form theNederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).The first line constructed was a line connecting Amsterdam with Haarlem, which opened on
20 September 1839 . The line was quickly expanded and reachedLeiden in1842 ,The Hague in1843 andRotterdam in1847 . Because this line is the oldest line in the Netherlands, it is now known as theOld Line . This line was originally build to Dutch broad gauge RailGauge|1945mm, but was converted tostandard gauge in1866 .The line started at the
Haarlemmerpoort on the westside of Amsterdam, across the street from the company's headquarters and ran to thestation Deltse Poort in Rotterdam. Aside from this line, the HSM constructed a number of other rail- andtram ways in the Netherlands, mainly in the relatively densely populatedHolland , such as the lines toDen Helder andAlkmaar . But the HSM also exploited lines to other regions, such as Utrecht (where it connected to lines of the SS),Zutphen (past cities asAmersfoort andApeldoorn ) andNijmegen . The HSM even exploited a line toLeeuwarden , which took passengers by boat over theZuiderzee .However, economic woes caused by the
First World War forced the HSM to start cooperation with the SS to strengthen their economic position. Eventually, this would lead to the formation of theNederlandse Spoorwegen .
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