The Hague Tram ( nl, Haagse tram) is a

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 are ...

network forming part of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system in and around the city of

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 ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

, 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 ...

. Opened in 1864, as of 2018 the network has twelve tram lines, three of which were built to light rail standards and currently operate under the

RandstadRail RandstadRail () is a light rail network in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area in the west of the Netherlands that is jointly operated by HTM Personenvervoer (HTM) and Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET). It connects the cities of Rotte ...

brand. It consists of 117 kilometres of rails and 241

stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...

, and has been operated by since 2002, being the successor of (01-01-1927 - 11-06-2002) and (01-05-1887 - 01-01-1927).

Overview

The first lines in The Hague were

horse-drawn A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

. In the first half of the 1880s,

steam tram Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. ...

s appeared and rapidly replaced the horse-drawn lines, especially in longer services. One of these was the line between The Hague and Delft in July 1887, which is still in service today and extended to Scheveningen Noord. In August 1904, the first electrified line went into service; this is now part of line 9 between Plein and Scheveningen Kurhaus. Most of this line is still part of the line between Vrederust and Scheveningen Noord. A long city centre tunnel for trams was opened in March 2004. It is used by Lines 2, 3, 4 and 6 and incorporates two underground stations:

Spui A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...

and Grote Markt. The tunnel is the western section of a

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...

section of the tram network, part of a proposed semi-metro network in the 1950s. Currently, it includes the tunnel and an elevated

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

to the east, which includes a

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 industri ...

for RandstadRail trams that connects to the former

Hofpleinlijn The Hofpleinlijn ''(Spoorlijn Rotterdam Hofplein - Scheveningen)'' was one of the two railways between the Dutch cities of The Hague and Rotterdam. In 2006 it was converted to metro-like operation as RandstadRail line E. History The Zuid-Hollan ...

near

Den Haag Laan van NOI railway station Den Haag Laan van NOI railway station is a railway station in the Netherlands, on the border between The Hague and the town of Voorburg. It is served by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch railway) and by the RandstadRail light-rail network. The sta ...

. Trams on RandstadRail lines 3 and 4 use this connecting line. East of Laan van NOI they share tracks and stations with Rotterdam Metro line E trains as far as

Leidschendam-Voorburg Leidschendam-Voorburg () is a municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It had a population of in , and covers an area of of which is water. Origin The municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg is the resu ...

before diverting onto the former

Zoetermeer Stadslijn Zoetermeer Stadslijn is a light-rail line converted from a former commuter rail line in the Netherlands, between The Hague and Zoetermeer. History Originally, the line was managed by the Dutch Railways (NS). Since June 2006, it has served as a l ...

towards

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2013 this had grown to 123,328 ...

. As of 2017, the fleet consists of approximately 250 trams of three types: * GTL8: eight-axle, three-section

articulated tram Trams have been used since the 19th century, and since then, there have been various uses and designs for trams around the world. This article covers the many design types, most notably the articulated, double-decker, drop-centre, low-floor, si ...

s. They have the HTM's red-and-beige livery and are uni-directional with a cab at only one end. These trams were built by

La Brugeoise et Nivelles La Brugeoise et Nivelles, later BN Constructions Ferroviaires et Métalliques was a Belgian manufacturer of railway locomotives and other rolling stock; it was formed by a merger of two companies: La Brugeoise et Nicaise et Delcuve and Les Ateli ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium (actual

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...

) in two generations: **GTL8-I, 100 first-generation trams delivered from 1981-1984 **GTL8-II, 47 second-generation trams delivered from 1992-1993 *

Avenio The Siemens Avenio is a low floor tram family produced by Siemens Mobility, a subsidiary of the German conglomerate Siemens. It is the successor to the Combino family. The first generation was sold as the Combino Supra , Combino MkII, or Combino ...

: four-section, 100%

low-floor tram A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspac ...

s. They have the red-and-grey R-net livery and are bi-directional with cabs on both ends. 70 trams (40 trams ordered in 2011, another 20 in 2014 and another 10 in 2017) were built by

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...

in Germany from 2014 to 2015, and have been gradually replacing the older GTL8 trams since 2015. * RegioCitadis: three-section, 70% low-floor light rail/tram-train vehicles with dual-voltage capabilities. They have the blue-and-white RandstadRail livery and are also bi-directional. 72 trams were built by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

in Salzgitter, Germany, of which 54 entered service in 2006-2007 and a further 18 in 2011. They are used as

tram-trains A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

on the line to Zoetermeer and on line 19 between Leidschendam and Delft.

Lines

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

* Operated as

;

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

There are additional services between

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 ...

Savornin Lohmanplein and Den Haag Centraal railway station during rush hours

Line 4

There are additional services between

Monstersestraat - Zoetermeer Javalaan during rush hours (double units)

Line 6

Line 9

Line 11

Line 12

Line 15

Line 16

Line 17

Line 19

* Operated with

or, occasionally, with

urban trams. Plans for extending the route of tram 19 to

TU Delft Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

campus exist, but have been postponed due to necessary infrastructure upgrades (rebuilding of the Sebastiaansbridge and problems with electromagnetic interference). Its temporary terminal is located on a third track at

Delft railway station Delft is the main railway station of the city of Delft, South Holland, Netherlands. It is located on the oldest railway line in the country, between the stations of The Hague Central and Rotterdam Central. Along with a new 2.3 km rail tunn ...

References

External links

* * {{coord, 52, 05, , N, 04, 19, , E, region:NL_type:railwaystation_source:enwiki, display=title

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 ...

Transport in The Hague 600 V DC railway electrification 750 V DC railway electrification Hague, The Regional rail in the Netherlands