Netherlands - General Information

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Country Name

Netherlands (Nederland)

National Railway System

National Railway Operator

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is the principal passenger carrier, which operates through various subsidiary companies, including:

  • NS Reizigers - Domestic passenger services
  • NS International - International passenger services.

Thalys services to the Netherlands are operated by a stand-alone company owned by SNCF (62%), SNCB/NMBS (28%) and DB (10%); NS is not a partner.

There is no longer a national freight operator. The former NS freight operation has been sold and is a subsidiary of DB Schenker (see below). Open access freight operators have a considerable market share. Some of the more important freight operators currently seen on Netherlands tracks are DB Schenker Rail Nederland, ACTS Nederland, ERS Railways, Rotterdam Rail Feeding and Captrain Benelux (SNCF).

Language

Dutch

Currency

Euro

UIC code

Numeric 84; alpha NL

Timetable

As of 14 December 2014, every station should be served twice an hour.

Journey Planner

Downloadable Timetable

Download dienstregeling > Voor een compleet overzicht > Trajectnummers nn t/m nn (where nn represents the range of table numbers. Timetable PDF's are available only in the Dutch version.

Printed Timetable

NS no longer publishes a printed timetable. The 2009-2010 issue of the Spoorboekje was the last. However, a private printed timetable Spoorboekje exists, giving all services in The Netherlands . The edition is for sale at AKO and Bruna stores at the stations.

Engineering Information

www.ns.nl/werktrajecten/index.form in Dutch only.

Real Time Train Information

Real time train running information is available on the Treinenradar and Spoorkaart websites.

Maps

Printed Maps

  • European Railway Atlas: France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg by M.G. Ball (1991) (ISBN 0-7110-2011-6)
  • European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)

Web-based Maps

  • Prorail provides a detailed geographical map.
  • Sporenplan has a series of on-line maps and schematic track diagrams. Click on "Sporenplannen" on the left hand side for a map showing the countries covered.
  • Thorsten Büker's Benelux Map.

Ticketing

All stations are equipped with ticket machines which accept coins and Meastro/Visa bank cards. However, some foreign Visa debit cards are not accepted. As of autumn 2014 credit cards are accepted. All machines offer domestic tickets and some provide international tickets to Belgium, and a selection of destinations in Germany. All tickets contain a chip to validate your ticket. Booking offices at small stations have almost all been closed. A surcharge is payable at booking offices when buying a ticket which is available from ticket machines.

The smart card OV Chipkaart is the Dutch way to travel on public transport. See https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/home-1.htm. The OV Chipkaart can be bought at any machine for € 7,50. Machines that add value to an OV Chipkaart accept debit cards issued outside the Netherlands. However, only a few machines (such as at some tobacconists) accept credit cards. Paper tickets continue to be issued from machines and booking offices for rail journeys.

Information on tickets and passes can be found on the NS Arrange and buy page. See the 'Ticket and pass types', 'Purchasing Tickets' and 'the e-ticket' subsections. The NS Dagkaart day ticket (valid for the whole country) appears to be missing from the NS website. To obtain one from a ticket machine: choose "buy tickets" on screen 1; "single tickets" on screen 2; "dagkaart" on screen 3 (only in Dutch), then choose the required options. A ​​​more tourist-friendly version is now available, valid on all bus/tram/metro services, and also a cheaper off-peak version. Supermarket chains may also offer cheap day tickets from time to time for a limited period.

Note: ALL tickets from machines MUST be touched in and out with ALL operators used in the correct order, when changing operators en-route. Travellers may be fined if they do not do this.

NS-Zonetaxi (formerly known as treintaxi) tickets include a taxi from/to the railway station for a fixed fare. The service is available in most mid-size towns, but not in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Den Haag and Rotterdam. When riding on single or return tickets, trein-taxi tickets should be bought at the departure station. For the return trip by taxi, tickets are best bought in advance, but the taxi driver sells tickets with a small surcharge.

Although more local services are to be franchised over the next few years, a uniform ticketing system, including NS and all franchisees, is being retained.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

ProRail owns and manages the NS infrastructure and is responsible for traffic control and capacity allocation, under the authority of the minister of transport.

Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport, part of the Ministry of Transport, is responsible for safety and rolling stock certification.

Network Statement

The Prorail Website gives access to various NS Network Statement documents.

The Keyrail Website gives access to various Betuweroute Network Statement documents.

Gauge

Standard.

Electrification

1500 V dc. New high-speed lines and the Betuwe trunk freight line between Rotterdam and Zevenaar (- Emmerich (Germany)) are electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz; Zevenaar - Emmerich was converted to 25 kV in 2016 so that freight trains have to change voltage only once. The Hanzelijn is not officially a high-speed line, so is 1500 V dc. Large-scale conversion to 25 kV 50 Hz in the long term was envisaged but this was abandoned in the late 1990s as too expensive. In 2014 Prorail started a feasibility study into upgrading to 3000 V dc.

Rule of the road

Right, but most lines are reversibly signalled. The following lines have left-hand running:

  • the high speed line from Rotterdam Lombardijen (where there is a flying crossover) to the Belgian border
  • the fast lines between Utrecht Centraal and Bilthoven; there is a flying crossover west of Bilthoven
  • from Roosendaal to the Belgian border
  • from Maastricht to the Belgian border

There are connections between the high speed line and the old line to Breda where they run parallel south of Lage Zwaluwe. The two southbound lines are adjacent, and linked by a long crossover. The connection between the northbound lines crosses over all four tracks on a flyover.

Distances

No detailed distance information has yet been located. The compilers would welcome details of any available information.

Other Railways

The line from Enschede to the German border (- Gronau), physically separate from the rest of the system, is operated by DB Regio to Dortmund and Münster.

The German based Bentheimer Eisenbahn owns and operates its trunk line from Bentheim to the border at Laarwald and a further 2 km on to Coevorden. The line is freight only; there has never been any significant border crossing passenger traffic, but freight has regained importance in recent times. Coevorden effectively serves as a German rail bridgehead into the Netherlands, traffic mainly consisting of containers that are subsequently road-hauled into the northern provinces.

Private operators have franchises to work a number of local passenger services over NS lines, thus:

  • Arriva Nederland: Leeuwarden - Harlingen, Leeuwarden - Stavoren, Leeuwarden - Groningen, Groningen - Roodeschool/Delfzijl, Groningen - Nieuweschans - Leer (D) and Zuidbroek - ​​Veendam, Dordrecht - Geldermalsen, Arnhem - Tiel, Arnhem - Winterswijk, Zutphen - Winterswijk, Almelo - Mariënberg (on behalf of Connexxion),​ Zwolle - Emmen, Apeldoorn - Zutphen, Nijmegen - Venlo - Roermond, Maastricht Randwijck - Heerlen - Kerkrade/Aachen.
  • Abellio (part of NS): Gouda - Alphen aan den Rijn
  • Connexxion: Amersfoort - Ede-Wageningen.
  • Syntus: Zutphen - Hengelo - Oldenzaal.

More local services are to be franchised over the next few years, but a uniform ticketing system, including NS and all franchisees, is being retained.

In addition next cross border services are operated: Regiobahn operates Venlo - Düsseldorf - Hamm (RE13), NMBS operates local services Maastricht - Liège (B) and Roosendaal - Antwerpen (B)

Tourist Lines

A list of Tourist & Museum Railways and Tramways in English is available on the Historisch Railvervoer Nederland (HRN) website.

Metro

Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Randstad: Den Haag – Rotterdam.

Track plans for all metro systems in the Netherlands are available on the Gleisplanweb site.

Trams

Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam, Utrecht.

Track plans for all tram systems in the Netherlands are available on the Gleisplanweb site.

See also Netherlands - Tram services over obscure routes

Recent and future changes

The 13km branch from Zwolle to Kampen is to electrified, with work planned for completion by December 2017.

The previous viaduct section through Delft was replaced by a 3,400 metre long tunnel section on 1 March 2015

Extensive works are under way or recently completed to increase line capacity. These include realignment and quadrupling of lines and construction of flyovers at junctions. Electrification of the Almelo to Zwolle section should be completed by 2017, on the Nijmegen to Venlo section by 2020.

The (Rotterdam -) Schiedam Centrum - Hoek van Holland line will close in April 2017 and reopen late that year as Metro line B, Hoek van Holland - Nesseland. A 1.6 km extension from Hoek van Holland Strand to a new terminus near the beach will open in early 2018.

The new 6.75 km Maasvlakte-West - Maasvlakte II (Euromax-terminal) "Buitencontour" line entered service at the end of 2012. The 50 km-long Hanzelijn connecting Lelystad and Zwolle opened on 9 December 2012. It uses Alstom's ATB system and Atlas signalling system, which is compatible with the ERTMS Level 2 standard.

The Hemboog curve opened in 2003, providing a direct connection between the Zaandam and Schiphol lines. The Utrechtboog curve opened in 2006, providing a direct connection between the Utrecht and Schiphol lines and bypassing Duivendrecht station to the southwest. Approval has been given for the upgrading of Zuidbroek to Veendam (Groningen province) to start, with a Groningen to Veendam passenger service planned from December 2011.

The Betuwe line trunk freight railway from Rotterdam to Emmerich opened for traffic in June 2007 but in mid 2008 was still only seeing limited use. Since October 2008 it is fully operational with 4 slots per hour each way.

The Sloelijn, a new electrified freight line to the Vlissingen port area, branching off the Rossendaal-Vlissingen main line near Lewedorp, opened 8 October 2008, replacing a former local line retained for this traffic.

Randstadrail is a new light rail system connecting the tramways of Den Haag and the Rotterdam metro. The Den Haag CS - Leidschendam-Voorburg - Rotterdam Hofplein/Zoetermeer line has been removed from the national rail network. Hofplein has closed and the light rail vehicles operate in a tunnel to Rotterdam Centraal station. A branch has been added to the Zoetermeer line, to Javalaan, and is being extended further.

NS Hispeed launched Amsterdam - Rotterdam passenger services, branded as Fyra, over HSL-Zuid on 7 September 2009, using electric locomotives and rakes of ICR coaches at a maximum speed of 160 km/h as an interim solution. Trains are initially running from Amsterdam Centraal, pending a switch to Amsterdam Zuid once its development has progressed further. This service has since been extended to Breda, using the high speed line to south of Lage Zwaluwe. Thalys services were diverted onto HSL-Zuid from 13 December 2009, running at up to 160 km/h between Schiphol and Rotterdam and at 300 km/h from south of Rotterdam to Antwerpen. 300 km/h running with ERTMS level 2 on the Rotterdam - Schiphol section started in December 2010. The high speed Fyra service, using the much delayed V250 electric units, finally started revenue earning service between Amsterdam and Rotterdam on 29 July 2012. The service to Antwerpen and Brussels, due to start in December 2011, started on 9 December 2012. However, Fyra international services had to be withdrawn due to technical problems with the V250 units. As replacement, the former Benelux service (IC-Brussel) via Roosendaal has been reintroduced and rebranded as 'Intercity Direct' albeit now diverted via Brussels Airport. Allegedly from December 2016 this is planned to be further diverted onto the High Speed line via Noorderkamp to serve Breda [reverse], assumed to cover the intended Breda and Antwerpen service that had been due to start on 8 April 2013. As of december 2015, 4 times an hour Intercity Direct provides a direct connection between Amsterdam Centraal, Schiphol and Rotterdam, two services continue to Breda.

The Utrecht - Amsterdam-Bijlmer section has been upgraded to 4 tracks. The Woerden - Harmelen - Utrecht section has been upgraded to 4 tracks, apart from the bridge over the Amsterdam-Rhine canal at Utrecht. Utrecht - Houten Zuid is being upgraded to 4 tracks. Diveunders will be built at Arnhem and Amersfoort to remove conflicting train movements.

In summer 2009 NS experimented for 5 days with "no timetable" operation on the Amsterdam - Eindhoven line, running 6 IC trains, 6 stopping trains and 2 freights per hour. No problems were encountered, so it will be repeated over a 4 week period in September 2010 but, unlike in 2009, with no extra staff or rolling stock rostered to cover any problems. Any further development of this concept is at a standstill owing to lack of finance.

Arriva took over operation of the Zutphen - Winterswijk, Zutphen - Apeldoorn, Arnhem - Winterswijk and Arnhem - Tiel lines from Syntus/NS and of Zwolle - Emmen from NS in December 2012. In 2013 it will take over Almelo - Mariënberg from Connexxion.

The Heerlen-Aachen service has been reduced to Heerlen-Hertzogenrath as of 13 december 2015. In the course of 2016 the line will be electrified.

The "Iron Rhine" freight line between Roermond and Dalheim (Germany) is planned to reopened for traffic between Antwerpen and the Ruhr. However this has been delayed by a dispute between the Dutch and Belgian governments, which has gone to arbitration. Recently the governments concluded an agreement but no clear timetable is defined yet.

Special notes

Many trains worked by multiple units split en route to serve more than one destination. External displays may show the destination of each portion; newer train sets are provided with internal displays as well. The number of each unit is displayed prominently in each carriage and when trains divide public address announcements usually refer to these to inform passengers where each unit is going.

The freight line to Terneuzen is accessible only from Gent in Belgium.

Wifi

Most stations have free internet access via KPN hotspots. NS Intercity trains have free internet by 'Wifi in de trein' provided by T-mobile, other operators like Arriva and Veolia offer free wifi in their trains. The Beneluxservice Amsterdam-Brussels v.v. is not provided with wifi.

See also