The Elst–Dordrecht railway is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

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 ...

running from Elst to

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

, passing through

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

Geldermalsen Geldermalsen () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. Town of Geldermalsen The town centre of Geldermalsen contains a two-aisled Gothic church dating from the 15th century, with a Romanesque towe ...

and

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The municipality of Gorinchem al ...

. It is also called the ''Betuwelijn'' (

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

line).

MerwedeLingelijn MerwedeLingelijn is the name of the train service in the Netherlands between Geldermalsen and Dordrecht, on the western part of the Elst–Dordrecht railway. Train services were operated by Arriva until 8 Dec 2018, when Qbuzz took over. Since ...

is the name of the western part between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen, which is operated by

Qbuzz Qbuzz is a public transport company in the Netherlands that operates services in South Holland, Utrecht, Drenthe and Groningen. Founded in 2008, it was a 100% subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (the Dutch National Railway Operator) betwee ...

. Tiel - Elst as part of the service Tiel - Arnhem is operated by

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.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 ...

(NS) operates Geldermalsen - Tiel as part of the service Utrecht - Tiel. The railway connects to the

Arnhem–Nijmegen railway The Arnhem–Nijmegen railway is an important railway line in the Netherlands running from Arnhem to Nijmegen, passing through Elst. The line was opened in 1879. It crosses two branches of the river Rhine: the Nederrijn in Arnhem, and the Waal i ...

in Elst. There were two connections to the Arnhem–Nijmegen railway in the past from the junction near Vork station; one to Elst and towards Nijmegen connecting near Ressen. The Nijmegen junction was used until 1990 and torn down during construction of the

Betuweroute The Betuweroute is a double track freight railway between Rotterdam and Germany. is the official name, after the Betuwe area through which the route passes. The line is popularly called Betuwelijn, after an older track in the same region. Th ...

in order of creating a junction between the Betuweroute from Rotterdam and the Arnhem–Nijmegen railway towards both Arnhem and Nijmegen.

Timeline

*1 November 1882 - Railway line opens between Elst and Geldermalsen *1 December 1883 - Railway line opens between Geldermalsen and Gorinchem *16 July 1885 - Railway line opens between Gorinchem and Dordrecht *1916: Schaapsteeg stop closes *15 May 1927 - Giessen-Oudekerk station closes *15 May 1931 - Vork station closes *15 May 1938 -

Arkel Arkel is a town in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. A part of the municipality of Molenlanden, it lies about 3 km north of Gorinchem. Arkel is a former municipality; in 1986 it became part of Giessenlanden. In 2017, the village o ...

Echteld Echteld is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Neder-Betuwe, and lies about 6 km east of Tiel. Echteld was a separate municipality between 1818 and 2002, when it was merged with Kesteren. Befor ...

, and

Valburg Valburg is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, about 10 km northwest of Nijmegen. Valburg was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became part of Overbetuwe. History It w ...

stations close *10 June 1940 - Arkel station re-opens *1950:

Wadenoijen Wadenoijen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Tiel, and lies about 4 km west of Tiel. Standing at the edge of the village, near the Linge river, is the village church, a building with a Roma ...

station closes *2 June 1957 - Hardinxveld-Giessendam station opens *28 May 1978 - the section Geldermalsen - Tiel is

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

. As a result, diesel trains no longer service the complete Utrecht - Tiel - Arnhem/Nijmegen track, but as of then they only service Tiel to Arnhem/Nijmegen forcing passengers to change trains in Tiel. *31 May 1987 - Regular train services Tiel - Nijmegen cease. Only peak hour services remain. Passengers are forced to change trains in Elst. *27 May 1990 - Dordrecht Stadspolders station opens; the train service Tiel - Nijmegen ceases completely. *31 May 1992 - the section Dordrecht - Geldermalsen is electrified *1 April 2005 - Syntus wins contract to operate the service Tiel - Elst (- Arnhem) when NS stopped servicing this track. *10 December 2006 - Arriva wins contract to operate the service Dordrecht - Geldermalsen ending the former NS services. Arriva operates a half-hourly service 7 days a week, starting earlier and finishing later. Passengers are offered improved better train changes at Dordrecht for Rotterdam,

Den Haag 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 Amsterdam and at Geldermalsen for Utrecht *14 September 2008 - New Spurt material is put into service by Arriva. *11 December 2011 - Sliedrecht Baanhoek and Hardinxveld Blauwe Zoom stations open *16 April 2012 - Boven-Hardinxveld station opens *9 December 2012 - Arriva wins contract to operate the service Tiel - Elst - Arnhem ending the Syntus services *9 December 2018 - Qbuzz wins contract to operare the service Dordrecht - Geldermalsen ending the Arriva services

Future

In future new stations will be added. These are: * Gorinchem Noord (Between Gorinchem and Arkel) * Leerdam Broekgraaf (Between Leerdam and Beesd) A quarter-hourly service is operated between Gorinchem and Dordrecht after creating passing loops at Dordrecht Stadspolders and Boven-Hardinxveld.

Train services

*2 hourly local services (''stoptrein'') Dordrecht - Gorinchem - Geldermalsen (Qbuzz) *2 hourly local services (''stoptrein'') Dordrecht - Gorinchem (Qbuzz) *2 hourly local services (''Sprinter'') Utrecht - Geldermalsen - Tiel between Geldermalsen and Tiel (NS) *1 hourly local service (''stoptrein'') Tiel - Elst - Arnhem between Elst and Tiel (Arriva) {{DEFAULTSORT:Elst-Dordrecht railway Railway lines in the Netherlands Railway lines in Gelderland Railway lines in South Holland Railway lines in Utrecht (province) Transport in Dordrecht Overbetuwe Railway lines opened in 1882