Groningen railway station (;

abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

: Gn), locally called ''Hoofdstation'' (main station), 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 ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

in the

Province of Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn; fry, Grinslân) is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. It borders on Friesland to the west, Drenthe to the south, the German state of Lower Saxony to the east, and the Wadden Sea to the north. As of ...

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 ...

. It is located on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway between

Zuidhorn Zuidhorn () is a town and former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The town largely depends on the city of Groningen. A railway line, operated by Arriva, connects the town with Leeuwarden in Friesland and Groningen. Due to a municipal ...

and Groningen Europapark, on the Meppel–Groningen railway as terminus after Groningen Europapark, and on the

Groningen–Delfzijl railway The Groningen–Delfzijl railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from Groningen to Delfzijl, passing through Sauwerd, Loppersum and Appingedam. The line was opened in 1884. Stations The stations on the railway are: *Groningen: to ...

as terminus after Groningen Noord. The first station building was completed in 1865 and demolished in 1894. The second and current station building was designed by Izaak Gosschalk, completed in 1896, and most recently restored in 2000. Train services started in 1866 and are currently provided by

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 ...

and Arriva. There are 41 bus services at the station provided 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) between ...

History

The station opened on 1 June 1866 and is on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway. The first building was a temporary structure outside the former fortifications. In 1870, with the Meppel–Groningen railway, the station was connected with the central Netherlands. In 1884 the

opened, and in 1893 the connection to Roodeschool opened. The station building that still stands today was completed in 1896.

Description

Location

The railway station is located at the Stationsplein in the city of

in the southwest of the province of

in the northeast of the

. Groningen is situated on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway, also called

Staatslijn 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 ...

B, between the railway stations of

and Groningen Europapark. The distance from Groningen westward to railway terminus Harlingen Haven is ,

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 ...

, and Zuidhorn , and eastward to Groningen Europapark is , Winschoten , and railway terminus

Bad Nieuweschans Bad Nieuweschans (also ''Lange Akkeren''; ; Gronings: ''Nij-Schans''; German: ''Bad Neuschanz'') is a village in the north-eastern Netherlands on the border with Germany. It forms part of the municipality of Oldambt. Nieuweschans means "new for ...

. Groningen is the terminus station of the Meppel–Groningen railway, also called Staatslijn C, after the railway station Groningen Europapark. The distance from Groningen southward to the railway station Groningen Europapark is , Assen , and the railway terminus

Meppel Meppel (; Drents: ''Möppelt'') is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe. Meppel is the smallest municipality in Drenthe, with a total area of about 57 km² (22 sq ...

. Groningen is also the terminus station of the

before the railway station Groningen Noord. The distance from Groningen northward to the railway station Groningen Noord is and the railway terminus

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Ems, which became fortified settlement in ...

. The station connects the non-electrified railways in the province of Groningen to the rest of the Dutch railway network in the south. Under the entry plaza is a bicycle parking garage with space for 4,150 bicycles. Combined with other nearby facilities, there is space for parking over 10,000 bicycles in the station area, as of 2010, with an estimated increase of 500 per year.

Building

The station building was designed by Izaak Gosschalk and combines

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

elements.

Layout

The station has nine platforms and behind the station is a stabling point for many trains.

Future revamp

Plans have been announced to drastically change the station layout. The stabling yard behind the station will be moved towards Haren, yielding space for more platforms and a new bus station. File:Groningen (stad), station Groningen. 13-06-2022. (actm.) 01.jpg, Main building (North North West side) File:Groningen (stad), station Groningen. 13-06-2022. (actm.) 03.jpg, Detail of the main building File:Groningen (stad), station Groningen. 13-06-2022. (actm.) 08.jpg, Right building File:Groningen (stad), station Groningen. 13-06-2022. (actm.) 05.jpg, Detail of right building File:Groningen (stad), station Groningen. 13-06-2022. (actm.) 06.jpg, Detail gallery

Services

Trains

From Groningen you can directly travel to places such as: Assen,

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 ...

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- ...

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 ...

, Gouda,

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 ...

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 ...

, Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol),

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; nds-nl, 't Ogeveine or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout ...

Roodeschool Roodeschool (Gronings: ''Roschoul'') is a community situated in the northeast of Groningen province in the Netherlands and forming part of the municipality of Het Hogeland. It had a population of around 860 in January 2017. Roodeschool's railway ...

( Eemsahven),

, Winschoten,

Nieuweschans Bad Nieuweschans (also ''Lange Akkeren''; ; Gronings: ''Nij-Schans''; German: ''Bad Neuschanz'') is a village in the north-eastern Netherlands on the border with Germany. It forms part of the municipality of Oldambt. Nieuweschans means "new for ...

and Leer (Germany). Groningen is now the most northerly station that

operates, with all services further north operated by Arriva. The following services operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen call at Groningen: *1× per hour

intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

service Rotterdam - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Groningen *1× per hour intercity service The Hague - Schiphol - Almere - Lelystad - Zwolle - Groningen *2× per hour local service ('' sprinter'') Zwolle - Assen - Groningen *2× per hour local service (''sprinter'') Groningen - Assen (Rush hour only) On Saturday and Sunday the early train to The Hague is merged with series 2600 (Lelystad Centrum - Vlissingen) to Vlissingen railway station, not calling at The Hague Central Station, continuing to

Hollands Spoor Den Haag HS (English: The Hague HS), an abbreviation of the original name Den Haag Hollands Spoor (''The Hague Holland Rail''), is the oldest train station in The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands, located on the Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam ...

instead, thereafter running further to Delft, Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Roosendaal and Vlissingen. This service also calls at Amsterdam Central station, Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Lelylaan instead of Duivendrecht and Amsterdam Zuid. The same happens for the late services on all other days, per hour decreasing in length (starts with Dordrecht, then Rotterdam, Den Haag Hollands Spoor, and lastly Amsterdam Central. The stations Roosendaal and Leiden Centraal are in the same situation, but from station Leeuwarden, not Groningen.). Thereafter, the Intercity services are suspended and replaced by Sprinters. At that time, there is no connection with these cities anymore. The following services operated by Arriva call at Groningen: *1× per hour express service (''sneltrein'') Leeuwarden - Buitenpost - Groningen *2× per hour local service (''stoptrein'') Leeuwarden - Buitenpost -Groningen *2× per hour local service (''stoptrein'') Groningen - Zuidbroek - Veendam *1× per hour local service (''stoptrein'') Groningen - Zuidbroek - Winschoten - Bad Nieuweschans - Leer *1× per hour local service (''stoptrein'') Groningen - Zuidbroek - Winschoten *2× per hour local service (''stoptrein'') Groningen - Sauwerd - Roodeschool (a few times a day: Eemshaven) *2× per hour local service (''stoptrein'') Groningen - Sauwerd - Delfzijl

Buses

There are 41 local and regional bus services at the station operated by

.Halte: Groningen, Hoofdstation

. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.

References

External links

Groningen station
station information {{DEFAULTSORT:Groningen Railway Station 1866 establishments in the Netherlands Buildings and structures completed in 1896 Buildings and structures in Groningen (city) Transport in Groningen (city) Railway stations in Groningen (province) Railway stations on the Staatslijn B Railway stations on the Staatslijn C Railway stations opened in 1866 Rijksmonuments in Groningen (province)