Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway

Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway Oude Lijn
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Netherlands
Termini	Amsterdam Centraal railway station Rotterdam Centraal railway station
Service
Operator(s)	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
History
Opened	1839–1847
Technical
Line length	86 km (53 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Line from Amersfoort Line to Utrecht Amsterdam Muiderpoort -1 Amsterdam Centraal from port of Amsterdam Line from Schiphol Airport 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 Airport 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 Campus from Hoek van Holland River Schiedamse Schie 82 Schiedam Centrum River Delfshavense Schie high speed line from Schiphol Airport 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 (and The Hague).

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 horse-drawn boat (Dutch: 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.

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

In March 2015 a new tunnel and station were opened in Delft, underpassing the former railway station and viaduct. Currently the doubling of the tracks is underway, after a long delay.

External links

• Nederlands Spoorwegmuseum