The Amsterdam–Schiphol railway (also known as the ''Westtak Ringspoorbaan'') is an important 17 kilometre long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

that connects

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, and allows trains to continue to

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 wi ...

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 o ...

, and

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 ''"Ne ...

History

The railway was opened by the

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and t ...

on 1 June 1986. The line prompted the opening of three new stations Amsterdam Sloterdijk, Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan and

Amsterdam Lelylaan Amsterdam Lelylaan is a railway, metro, tram and bus station in west Amsterdam. It is served by trains of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen and metros of the GVB. The station opened on 1 June 1986. It is located on the Amsterdam-Schiphol railway, a few ...

. A fourth station, Amsterdam Aletta Jacobslaan, was planned but it was never opened; today, the

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

station Henk Sneevlietweg is situated on the proposed site. In 1997 the

line 50 opened, running parallel with the line between Isolatorweg (between Amsterdam Centraal and Sloterdijk) and Henk Sneevlietweg (south of Amsterdam Lelylaan). De Vlugtlaan station was closed in 2000 as part of the project to open the Hemboog which would link Schiphol with North Holland.

Route

The Amsterdam-Schiphol line leaves

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, ...

in a westerly direction. It passes Zaanstraat

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

from Amsterdam Centraal, where the

Oude Lijn Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...

towards Haarlem diverges. Shortly afterwards the freight-only

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

to Westhaven also diverges. out of Amsterdam Centraal, the metro line starts at Isolatorweg, running parallel to the Schiphol railway for . The railway and metro both turn toward the south before reaching the bi-level Amsterdam Sloterdijk station. Here, the platforms on the line to Schiphol and the metro platforms are above the bottom lines for Haarlem and

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaand ...

. South of the station, the

Hemboog Amsterdam Sloterdijk is a major railway junction to the west of Amsterdam Centraal station. It is at a rail-rail crossing, with an additional chord (Hemboog). It is on the railway line from Amsterdam Centraal to Haarlem and the last station before ...

with the line from Zaandam joins, passing through the former Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan station, which is now served only by the metro. after

station, the metro line branches off to the east towards Amsterdam Zuid, while the line towards Schiphol branches off to the west, where it joins the Weesp–Leiden railway (also known as the original ''Schiphollijn'') coming from Amsterdam Zuid. For the line runs in the median of the A4 motorway, before diving into the tunnel to

Schiphol Airport railway station Schiphol Airport railway station (previously Schiphol until 12 December 2015) is a major passenger railway station in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. It is located directly beneath the terminal complex of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and is operated ...

, located under the

airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...

. From Schiphol the line continues as the Schiphollijn to

Services

The Amsterdam–Schiphol railway is used by the following passenger services: * International services (Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris – London; Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris) * Intercity Direct high speed services (Amsterdam – Rotterdam – Breda; Amsterdam – Rotterdam) * Intercity services (Amsterdam – Dordrecht – Vlissingen; Lelystad – Den Haag Centraal; Groningen – Den Haag Centraal) * Local services (Hoorn – Hoofddorp; Utrecht – Den Haag Centraal; Amersfoort Vathorst – Hoofddorp)

Types

A wide variety of trains can be found regularly on the Amsterdam–Schiphol railway: *

British Rail Class 374 The British Rail Class 374, also referred to as the Eurostar e320, is a type of electric multiple unit passenger train used on Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel to serve destinations beyond the core routes to Paris and Brussels. The ...

on the Amsterdam – London

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...

service * Thalys PBA or

Thalys PBKA The Thalys PBKA is a TGV variant ordered and operated by Thalys between its namesake cities Paris, Brussels, Cologne (german: Köln) and Amsterdam, forming the abbreviation PBKA. The sets have eight carriages and are long, weighing a total of 3 ...

on the Amsterdam – Paris

Thalys Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed rail, high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Gare du Nord, Paris and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar tr ...

service *

NS Class 186 The NS Class 186 is a type of B-B electric locomotive built by Bombardier Transportation between 2006 and 2014. It is a member of the Bombardier TRAXX family of locomotives, the Bombardier TRAXX F140 MS2 variant. The locomotives are used fo ...

on the Amsterdam – Breda and Amsterdam – Rotterdam Intercity Direct services * NS DD-IRM on the Amsterdam – Vlissingen and Amsterdam – Den Haag Centraal services * NS Sprinter on the Hoorn – Hoofddorp service between Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Schiphol Airport * NID/DDZ on the Amsterdam – Vlissingen; Amsterdam – Den Haag Centraal; Hoorn – Hoofddorp services * SLT on the Hoofdorp – Hoorn and Amersfoort Vathorst – Hoofddorp services {{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam-Schiphol railway Railway lines in the Netherlands Railway lines opened in 1986 1986 establishments in the Netherlands Railway lines in North Holland Railway lines in highway medians Standard gauge railways in the Netherlands Rail transport in Amsterdam Regional rail in the Netherlands