Amersfoort Centraal is the main

railway station 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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

in the province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

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 ...

. The station was an important link between the western part of the Netherlands and the north and east of the country until December 2012 when the Hanzelijn opened.

History

The original station building opened on 20 August 1863, and closed in 1904. It was called Amersfoort NCS and is located next to the railway tracks east of the end of the platforms of the current station. This first station opened as part of the

Utrecht–Kampen railway The Utrecht–Kampen railway (also known as ''Centraalspoorweg'') is an important railway line in the Netherlands running from Utrecht to Kampen, passing through Bilthoven, Amersfoort, Nijkerk, Ermelo, Harderwijk, Nunspeet, Wezep and Zwolle. The ...

("Centraalspoorweg"), which runs from

via Amersfoort to

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is on ...

and Kampen. In 1874 the '' Gooilijn'' opened, running from

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 ...

via

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilver ...

to Amersfoort. Two years later the line was extended to form the '' Oosterspoorweg'' ("East rail line") from Amersfoort to

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. Th ...

and

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in th ...

. In 1886 a railway line opened from Amersfoort to

Kesteren Kesteren is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Neder-Betuwe, and lies about 8 km southwest of Wageningen. Kesteren was a separate municipality until 2002, when it merged with Dodewaard and ...

, offering a direct service between Amsterdam and

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

. However, the 1863 station was just too far east for the line, and so another station was built on the Kesteren line, called Amersfoort Stad. Parts of the Kesteren line still exist today. To permit connections between the two stations, a third station was built, called ''Amersfoort Aansluiting'' (“Amersfoort Connection”). Because this meant there were three stations all close to each other, it was decided to consolidate them and the current station was built and opened in 1901. It was renovated in 1997, at which time a third island-platform, as well as an exit on the north side of the station, were built. Since 1970, Amersfoort has been important for intercity passengers, as it was the only station where all cross country intercity trains from Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam to Leeuwarden, Groningen and Enschede met. Passengers only need to cross to the other side of an island platform to change for trains to other destinations. Since December 2012 and the opening of the Hanzelijn, trains from The Hague and Amsterdam now travel via Lelystad to Zwolle, avoiding Amersfoort. A second station was opened in Amersfoort in 1987, called Amersfoort Schothorst, and in 2006 a third was opened, Amersfoort Vathorst. Both these stations are on the Amersfoort – Zwolle line. The Centraalspoorweg between Amersfoort and Zwolle is also known as the Veluwelijn. A new fly-under was opened on 18 October 2013, after two years of construction, to allow trains from Hilversum to access Platform 1 without crossing the other lines. The cost was €44.5 million.

Train services

, the following train services call at this station: *Express services: **International ''Intercity'': Amsterdam - Amersfoort - Hengelo - Osnabrück - Hanover - Berlin **''Intercity'': Schiphol - Hilversum - Amersfoort - Hengelo - Enschede **''Intercity'': Schiphol - Hilversum - Amersfoort - Amersfoort Schothorst **''Intercity'': Amsterdam - Hilversum - Amersfoort (- Deventer) **''Intercity'': Rotterdam - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Groningen **''Intercity'': Rotterdam - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Leeuwarden **''Intercity'': The Hague - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Hengelo - Enschede **''Intercity'': The Hague - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Amersfoort Schothorst *Local services: **''Sprinter'': Utrecht - Amersfoort - Zwolle **''Sprinter'': Hoofddorp - Amsterdam - Hilversum - Amersfoort Vathorst **''Stoptrein'': Amersfoort - Barneveld - Ede-Wageningen **''Stoptrein'': Amersfoort - Barneveld Zuid

Bus services

Bus services depart from the bus station at the front of the station; services are operated by

Syntus Keolis Nederland is a public transport company operating bus and passenger train services in the Netherlands. Originally created as Syntus and owned by Connexxion, Keolis and Nederlandse Spoorwegen, since 2012 Keolis Nederland has been a 100% subs ...

and U-OV (52, 72). *1: Park Bilthoven - Soesterkwartier/Isselt - Station *2: Station - Nieuwland *3: Station - Vathorst *4: Station - Hoogland - Kattenbroek *5: Station - City Centre - Schothorst - Vathorst *6: Station - City Centre - Rustenburg - Liendert *7: Station - Schothorst - Vathorst *8: Station - City Centre - Vermeerkwartier - Schullenburg *9 Station - Leusderkwartier - Eemgaarde *17: Amersfoort - Leusden *19: Station - Rusthof Cemetery *52: Amersfoort - Soesterberg - Huis ter Heide - Zeist North - De Bilt - Utrecht *56: Amersfoort - Soesterberg - Huis ter Heide - Zeist - Driebergen-Zeist - Doorn - Wijk bij Duurstede *70: Amersfoort - Soest Zuid - Soestdijk North - Hilversum *72: Amersfoort - Soesterberg - Zeist - Utrecht *76: Amersfoort - Bunschoten - Spakenburg *(X)80: Amersfoort - Leusden South - Woudenberg - Scherpenzeel - Veenendaal - Rhenen *82: Amersfoort - Leusden South - Woudenberg - Maarn - Doorn *102: Amersfoort - Hoevelaken - Zwartebroek - Terschuur - Voorthuizen - Nieuw Millingen - Apeldoorn *217: Amersfoort - Leusden *280: Amersfoort - Leusden South - Woudenberg - Maarsbergen - Veenendaal *356 Amersfoort - Soesterberg, National Military Museum

References

External links

NS website

Dutch public transport travel planner

Live departures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amersfoort Centraal Railway Station Centraal Railway stations opened in 1863 Railway stations opened in 1901 Railway stations on the Centraalspoorweg Railway stations on the Valleilijn Railway stations on the Veluwelijn