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

Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, m ...

Rotterdam Centraal Rotterdam Centraal railway station () is the main railway station of the city Rotterdam in South Holland, Netherlands. The station received an average of 112,000 passengers daily in 2019. The current station building, located at Station Square, ...

through

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

. From December 2011 it is used by all direct trains from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, and all direct supplement-free trains from Amsterdam to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

except those through

Woerden Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...

History

It contains the oldest railway line in the Netherlands, and follows the old

horse-drawn boat A horse-drawn boat or tow-boat is a historic boat operating on a canal, pulled by a horse walking beside the canal on a towpath. United Kingdom The Romans are known to have used mules to haul boats on their waterways in the UK. Boat horses were t ...

(Dutch: ''

trekschuit Trekschuit (, literally ''"tug-boat"'', but true meaning ''"tugged-boat"'') is an old style of sail- and horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands, where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along ''trekv ...

'') canal route from Leiden via Haarlem to Amsterdam- Sloterdijk. It was opened between 1839 and 1847 by the

Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij () or HSM (''Hollands Iron Railway-Company'') was the first railway company in the Netherlands founded on 8 August 1837 as a private company, starting operation in 1839 with a line between Amsterdam ...

. The oldest section, opened in 1839, led from Amsterdam to Haarlem.

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

and

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 The Weesp–Leiden railway (Dutch: ''Schiphollijn'') is a railway line in the Netherlands which runs between the cities of Weesp and Leiden; the line also passes through and serves Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. History Opening The first section of ...

(1978) and the

Amsterdam–Schiphol railway The Amsterdam–Schiphol railway (also known as the ''Westtak Ringspoorbaan'') is an important 17 kilometre long railway line in the Netherlands that connects Amsterdam with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, and allows trains to continue to Leiden, Th ...

(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 Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, underpassing the former railway station and viaduct. Currently the doubling of the tracks is underway, after a long delay.

References

External links

Nederlands Spoorwegmuseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam-Haarlem-Rotterdam railway Railway lines in the Netherlands Railway lines opened in 1847 1847 establishments in the Netherlands Railway lines in North Holland Railway lines in South Holland Standard gauge railways in the Netherlands Rail transport in Amsterdam Rail transport in Rotterdam