The Weesp–Leiden railway (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

: ''Schiphollijn'') is a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

which runs between the cities of

Weesp Weesp () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and an urban area in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Amsterdam in the Provinces of the netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a populati ...

and

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

; the line also passes through and serves

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...

History

Opening

The first section of the ''Schiphollijn'' was opened on 20 December 1978 between

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...

and Amsterdam Zuid. At the time, this section of railway was not connected to the rest of the Dutch railway network. This section of the ''Schiphollijn'' features a -long tunnel, in which Schiphol railway station is located. When it was constructed, Schiphol was the only railway station in the Netherlands to be in-tunnel.

Extension

The line was extended in both directions in 1981 to Amsterdam RAI and Leiden Centraal; new stations were opened at

Hoofddorp Hoofddorp (; ) is the main town of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. In 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained. Hi ...

and

Nieuw-Vennep Nieuw-Vennep is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located near the capital city Amsterdam as well as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It has a population of 31,415 (2021), and is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, which ...

. In 1986, a connection to

Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam Centraal station ( ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, making it the second busiest railway stati ...

was completed: the Amsterdam–Schiphol railway. Stations were opened at Amsterdam Lelylaan, Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan and Amsterdam Sloterdijk. Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan was closed in 2000, after the opening of the Hemboog: a chord at Amsterdam Sloterdijk which connects Schiphol Airport and the city of

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

. The line was completed in 1993 when the railway was extended to the town of

. This enabled direct connections to

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municip ...

from the eastern and northern

provinces of the Netherlands There are twelve provinces ( or ; Grammatical number#Overview, sing. ) of the Netherlands representing the administrative layer between the cabinet of the Netherlands, national government and the municipalities of the Netherlands, local ...

to Schiphol. Duivendrecht station opened to provide a connection between the new line and the

Amsterdam–Arnhem railway The Amsterdam–Arnhem railway, also referred to as the Amsterdam–Elten railway or ''Rhijnspoorweg'' in Dutch (English: Rhine railway), is an important railway that connects Amsterdam in the Netherlands with Utrecht and Arnhem, and continues i ...

. The most important stations on the line currently are: Leiden Centraal, Hoofddorp, Schiphol airport, Amsterdam Zuid, Duivendrecht and Weesp. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weesp-Leiden railway Rail transport in Amsterdam Railway lines in North Holland Railway lines in South Holland Railway lines opened in 1978 1978 establishments in the Netherlands 20th-century architecture in the Netherlands