Alkmaar railway station serves the town of
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...
,
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 ...
. It is located approximately northwest of Amsterdam. The station opened on 20 December 1865 and is located on the
Den Helder–Amsterdam railway
The Den Helder–Amsterdam railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from Den Helder to Amsterdam, passing through Alkmaar and Zaandam. It is also called the '' Staatslijn K'' ("state line K") in Dutch. The line is 81 km long.
The ...
. The train services are operated by
Nederlandse Spoorwegen
(, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938.
The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...
and it is an Intercity station, where all trains stop.
History
Alkmaar Station opened on 20 December 1865 when the railway opened between Alkmaar and Den Helder. This was the second railway opened by the
Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij () or HSM (''Hollands Iron Railway-Company'') was the first railway company in the Netherlands founded on 8 August 1837 as a private company, starting operation in 1839 with a line between Amsterdam ...
after the
Amsterdam–Rotterdam railway. The line through Alkmaar was on the Staatslijn K railway, built by the Dutch state between 1865 and 1878.
The station building is a standard station building of the State Railways of the 1860s and was designed by
Karel Hendrik van Brederode. The three other remaining station buildings of this style are in
Harlingen,
Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...
and
Winschoten
Winschoten (; ) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt (municipality), Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt (region), Oldambt in the province of Groningen (prov ...
. The station building of Alkmaar was expanded in 1879 and in 1908, by which time the entire building had two floors. A small extension was made on the south side of the station, making it asymmetrical. Following the middle part of the building was expanded forwards. In 1929, the north side of the station building was extended. In the 1960s, the station entrance was altered, the hall of the station gained a glass front.
The railway line from Amsterdam to Alkmaar was electrified in 1931. The line to Den Helder was electrified in 1958 and the line to Hoorn in 1974. Behind the platforms are 7 sidings, where trains are stabled between peak hours and at night.
Between 2014 and 2016, the north side of the station area was altered significantly. A new bridge has been built over the tracks which will connect the Bergerhof area and the station better. The tunnel under the platforms was closed as a result.
Train services
The station is served by the following services:
*2x per hour Intercity services ''(Schagen -) Alkmaar - Amsterdam - Utrecht - Eindhoven - Maastricht'' (not after 20:00 or on Sundays, operates to Schagen during peak hours)
*2x per hour Intercity services ''Den Helder - Amsterdam - Utrecht - Arnhem - Nijmegen''
*2x per hour Intercity services ''Alkmaar - Haarlem'' (only on weekdays peak hours in the peak direction)
*2x per hour Local services (''Sprinter'') ''Hoorn - Alkmaar - Uitgeest - Haarlem - Amsterdam''
A night Sprinter service operates on the route between Amsterdam – Uitgeest – Alkmaar – Den Helder.
Bus services
There is a bus station at the front of the station where the following bus services regularly depart from. All bus services are operated by
Connexxion
Connexxion formerly Transdev#Netherlands, Transdev Netherlands, Veolia Transport Nederland, Veolia Transport Nederlands and Connex Netherlands is a large Public transport in the Netherlands, public transport company in the Netherlands, operatin ...
, except 350 and 351 which is operated by
Arriva
Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
.
* 1 – ''Station - Centre - MCA Hospital - De Hoef - Station''
* 2 – ''Daalmeer - De Mare - Station - MCA Hospital - Overdie''
* 3 – ''Daalmeer - De Mare - Noord Station - Station''
* 4 – ''Daalmeer - Koedijk - De Mare - Vroonermeer - Noord Station - Station - Centre - MCA Hospital - Overdie''
* 5 – ''Station - De Hoef/Van Goghlaan - MCA Hospital - Centre - Station''
* 6 – ''(Bergen aan Zee -) Bergen - Alkmaar INHolland University - Station - Heerhugowaard Reigersdaal''
* 8 – ''Station - Noord Station - Beverkoog''
* 9 – ''Station - Oudorp - St.Pancras - Langedijk - Scharwoude - Oudkarspel''
* 123 – ''Alkmaar - Oudorp - West-Grafdijk - De Rijp''
* 129 – ''Alkmaar - Stompetoren - Schermerhorn - Noordbeemster - Middenbeemster - Purmerend''
* 150 – ''Alkmaar - Heerhugowaard - Nieuwe Niedorp - Schagen''
* 151 – ''Alkmaar - Koedijk - Groet - Petten - Julianadorp''
* 157 – ''Alkmaar - Koedijk - Schoorldam - Warmenhuizen - Tuitjenhorn - Kalverdijk - Dirkshorn - Schagen''
* 160 – ''Alkmaar - Heerhugowaard''
* 163 – ''Alkmaar - MCA Hospital - Akersloot – Uitgeest''
* 165 – ''Alkmaar - Egmond aan Zee''
* 167 – ''Alkmaar Station - MCA Hospital - Castricum - (Beverwijk)''
* 350 – ''Alkmaar - Heerhugowaard - Wieringenwerf - Den Oever -
Afsluitdijk
The Afsluitdijk (; ; "closure dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich, Friesland, Zurich in Friesland province, o ...
- Bolsward - Leeuwarden''
* 351 - ''Alkmaar - Harlingen''
* N60 – ''Alkmaar - Heerhugowaard'' Weekend Night bus
* N69 – ''Alkmaar - Amsterdam'' Saturday Night bus
External links
NS websiteDutch public transport travel planner
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alkmaar Railway Station
Railway stations in North Holland
Railway stations in the Netherlands opened in 1865
Railway stations on the Staatslijn K