The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij () or HSM (''Hollands Iron Railway-Company'') was the first

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 p ...

company 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 ...

founded on 8 August 1837 as a

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

, starting operation in 1839 with a line between

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The company remained operational until 1938, when it merged with the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS) to form 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 ...

(NS).

History

The first line constructed was a line following the straight route of the

Haarlemmertrekvaart The Haarlemmertrekvaart �haːrlɛmərˈtrɛkfaːrt(Haarlem's Tow-Canal) is a canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It was dug in 1631, making it the oldest tow-canal in Holland. Travel on such cana ...

canal, connecting Amsterdam with Haarlem, which opened on 20 September 1839. The line was quickly expanded to follow the

Leidsevaart The Leidsevaart (also known as Leidse trekvaart, Dutch for "Leiden's Pull-Canal") is a canal between the cities of Haarlem and Leiden in the Netherlands. It was dug in 1657, making it one of the oldest canals in the Netherlands. It was the major m ...

canal and reached

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 w ...

in 1842,

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 ...

in 1843, and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

in 1847. Because this line is the oldest line in the Netherlands, it is now known as the Old Line. This line was originally built to Dutch broad gauge , but was

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to in 1866. The line started at the Amsterdam d'Eenhonderd Roe station on the west side of Amsterdam, across the street from the company's headquarters, and ran to the Delftse Poort station in Rotterdam. Aside from this line, the HSM constructed a number of other rail- and

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

ways in the Netherlands, mainly in the relatively densely populated

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, such as the

Staatslijn K A ''staatslijn'' (; English: state line) is a railway that was established as a result of the railway law passed on 18 August 1860 by the State in the Netherlands. 10 of these lines were built and utilized by the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van St ...

(1860–1865), a line northwards from Haarlem to Uitgeest in 1867, and the line to

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

(1881). But the HSM also exploited lines to other regions, such as

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 ...

(where it connected to lines of the SS),

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 ...

(past cities as

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- ...

and

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

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 ...

. The HSM even exploited a line to

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of th ...

, which took passengers by boat over the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...

School

To service the trains on the rails, the HSM had the services of Koninklijke Fabriek van Rijtuigen en Spoorwagens J.J. Beijnes in Haarlem. This company grew so fast, that in 1891, the HSM, aided by the social activist

Daniel de Clercq Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength ...

, began the Haarlem society called ''De Ambachtsschool'' to unify various city efforts to start a vocational school in Haarlem, in order to satisfy their need for workers in the booming train business.''Deugd boven geweld, Een geschiedenis van Haarlem, 1245-1995'', edited by Gineke van der Ree-Scholtens, 1995, , p555

Merger

However, economic woes caused by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

forced the HSM to start cooperation with the other Dutch railway company Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS) to strengthen their economic position. In 1938, this led to the formation of the

References

{{reflist

External links

Website
of the Nederlands Spoorwegmuseum, Utrecht Nederlandse Spoorwegen Railway companies of the Netherlands Defunct railroads Railway companies established in 1837 Railway companies disestablished in 1938 History of Haarlem Companies based in Amsterdam Former Dutch railway company

History

School

Merger

See also

References

External links