Den Haag Centraal railway station

Den Haag Centraal
Den Haag Centraal, exterior
Location	Koningin Julianaplein 10 2595 AA The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands Netherlands
Coordinates	52°4′54″N 4°19′45″E / 52.08167°N 4.32917°E / 52.08167; 4.32917Coordinates: 52°4′54″N 4°19′45″E / 52.08167°N 4.32917°E / 52.08167; 4.32917
Operated by	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Line(s)	Gouda–Den Haag railway
Platforms	10
Other information
Station code	Gvc
History
Opened	29 May 1976
Services
Preceding station   Nederlandse Spoorwegen   Following station Terminus NS Intercity 700 1x/hour; Combined half-hourly service with Intercity 1800 on section Den Haag Centraal-Zwolle. Transfer to Intercity 600 to/from Leeuwarden at Zwolle Leiden Centraal toward Groningen NS Intercity 1100 2x/hour Den Haag Hollands Spoor toward Eindhoven NS Intercity 1700 1x/hour; Combined half-hourly service with Intercity 11700 on section Den Haag Centraal-Amersfoort Centraal. Transfer to Intercity 11600 to/from Amersfoort Schothorst at Amersfoort Centraal Gouda toward Enschede NS Intercity 1800 1x/hour; Combined half-hourly service with Intercity 700 on section Den Haag Centraal-Zwolle. Transfer to Intercity 500 to/from Groningen at Zwolle Leiden Centraal toward Leeuwarden NS Intercity 2000 2x/hour; Not on late evenings and early Sunday mornings Gouda toward Utrecht Centraal NS Intercity 2100 2x/hour; Not on late evenings and early Sunday mornings Leiden Centraal toward Amsterdam Centraal NS Intercity 11700 1x/hour; Combined half-hourly service with Intercity 1700 on section Den Haag Centraal-Amersfoort Centraal. Transfer to Intercity 1600 to/from Enschede at Amersfoort Centraal Gouda toward Amersfoort Schothorst NS Sprinter 4600 2x/hour Den Haag Laan van NOI toward Zwolle NS Sprinter 5000 2x/hour; Not on evenings and weekends Den Haag Hollands Spoor toward Dordrecht NS Sprinter 5100 2x/hour NS Sprinter 6300 2x/hour; Not on evenings and weekends Den Haag Laan van NOI toward Haarlem NS Sprinter 6800 2x/hour; Not on evenings and weekends Voorburg toward Gouda Goverwelle NS Sprinter 6900 2x/hour Voorburg toward 's-Hertogenbosch
Location
Den Haag Centraal Location within Southwest Randstad Den Haag Centraal Den Haag Centraal (Netherlands) Show map of Southwest RandstadShow map of NetherlandsShow all

Den Haag Centraal (Dutch pronunciation: [dɛn ˌɦaːx sɛnˈtraːl]; English: The Hague Central) is the largest railway station in the city of The Hague in South Holland, Netherlands, and with twelve tracks, the largest terminal station in the Netherlands. The station was completed in 1973, adjacent to its predecessor: station Den Haag Staatsspoor, which was subsequently demolished. It is the western terminus of the Gouda–Den Haag railway.

History[]

Main hall of Den Haag Centraal, 2016

The oldest station in The Hague is Den Haag Hollands Spoor (The Hague Holland's Rail) on the main line from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, opened in 1843 by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (Holland's Iron Railroad Company). This station was built at some distance from the city centre.

In 1870, the Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij (Dutch Rhine-railroad Company) opened a second station in The Hague, Den Haag Rijnspoor (The Hague Rhine Rail) for trains to Gouda and Utrecht. This station was built much closer to the city centre. From 1888 this railroad was the property of the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (State Railway Operation Company); the station was renamed Den Haag Staatsspoor ("The Hague State Rail").

In 1962, David Jokinen saw an opportunity to put an end to the situation with two main stations where Staatsspoor station and Hollands Spoor each served only part of the rail traffic. The Jokinen Plan included demolishing the Staatsspoor Station entirely. But, the plan was not implemented.

In the 1970s, Nederlandse Spoorwegen decided to build a new Central Station in The Hague and it was decided to build the new station next to Staatsspoor station. The old station was demolished after the new station was completed. A chord was also built to connect the station to the line to Amsterdam. Although Centraal station is the largest station in The Hague, it is served only by terminating trains; Intercity and international trains travelling between Amsterdam and Rotterdam stop only at Hollands Spoor station. Now, The Hague is the only city in the Netherlands which still has two major railway stations.

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2019)

The main hall of Den Haag Centraal is currently^[when?] undergoing a renovation in order to increase the railway station's capacity. The roof has been replaced. It is now higher, and made of glass plates placed in a framework of stainless steel. Moreover, more commercial space has been added next to both side entrances, and new tiling is due to be placed. The renovation was planned to finish by the end of 2014 but is still going on as of May 2019

Train services[]

The elevated tram station above the mainline tracks

There are 22 scheduled trains per hour that leave Den Haag Centraal on a normal weekday (07:00 - 20:00). Sprinter services call at every station along the way whilst Intercity trains only stop at the major stations. There are 6 trains an hour (each way) connecting Den Haag Centraal with Rotterdam Centraal, 6 train an hour connecting it with Utrecht and 4 with Amsterdam.

Tram services[]

Den Haag Centraal is a public transportation hub and a major nodal hub for the tram network run by HTM Personenvervoer. The railway station features two separate sets of platforms.

Upper tram station

These are two elevated island platforms serving four tracks, located above and lying perpendicular to the heavy rail tracks, serving lines 2, 3, 4, and 6. Regular lines 2 and 6 use the inner tracks, while the RandstadRail lines 3 and 4 use the outer tracks. They connect directly to the city centre tunnel to the west and the elevated tracks to Ternoot and Beatrixkwartier to the east.

Lower tram station

These are two ground-level side platforms and one island platform between them, located parallel to the heavy rail tracks outside the south-western entrance. All other city tram lines that call at the station use these platforms.

Metro services[]

New metro station

The Rotterdam-based RET operates RandstadRail line E, a high-capacity metro service via Leidschenveen and Pijnacker to Rotterdam Centraal station. From there it shares track with line D of the Rotterdam Metro and terminates at Slinge station.

Until August 2016, these services used platforms 11 and 12 of the mainline station, alongside the heavy rail tracks. Since then, two dedicated elevated platforms have come into use. Here, metro trains use the high-level side platforms; the low-level island platform is used by RandstadRail trams in case of emergency, when the connecting tracks via Beatrixkwartier cannot be used.

Bus services[]

There is a bus platform above the rail roads, which is connected to the Prins Bernhardviaduct running over the tracks. The platform is accessible from the station's main hall. Several city and regional lines of three different carriers stop here. HTM's bus lines starting with an N are night buses and only run on Fridays and Saturdays.

See also[]

• Zebra clock

External links[]

Media related to Den Haag Central station at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Live departure times and cancellations
• Dutch Public Transport journey planner
• HTM Personenvervoer