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 A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

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 ...

, located on the

Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway The railway from Amsterdam through Haarlem to Rotterdam (also: ''Oude Lijn'', Dutch for "old line") runs from Amsterdam Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal through Haarlem (and The Hague). From December 2011 it is used by all direct trains from A ...

. It is the second main station in The Hague and, unlike The Hague Central Station, it is not a terminus station. The name of the station is derived from the former

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 ...

(HIJSM) which was the first Dutch railway company.

History

Hollands Spoor opened on 6 December 1843, after the Amsterdam–Haarlem railway, the oldest railway in the country, had been extended to The Hague. This line was further extended to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in 1847. At the time, the area was a grassland and belonged to the municipality of

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also i ...

. Lacking the people to manage law enforcement around the station, Rijswijk ceded the land to the municipality of The Hague. The railway station was named ''Holland Spoor'', after the company which operated it, the

. The original building, which was designed by Frederik Willem Conrad, was demolished in 1891 to make way for a

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

building designed by Dirk Margadant. The current station building is one of three in the Netherlands with an active

royal waiting room A royal waiting room is a space at a train station set up for use by a royal family when they travel by train. According to protocol, a monarch never has to wait. So when they arrive somewhere, everything is already ready. However, this is not feas ...

reserved for the

Dutch monarchy The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

. In 1870, the rival company

Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij The Dutch Rhenish Railway or Dutch–Rhenish Railway ( or ) was a Dutch railway company active from 1845 until 1890. History The Dutch Rhenish Railway Company Limited was founded in Amsterdam on 3 July 1845 to take over the state-run Rhenish Ra ...

opened a second main railway station in The Hague, Den Haag Rhijnspoor, on the newly constructed

Gouda–Den Haag railway The Gouda–Den Haag railway is a heavily used railway line in the Netherlands, running from Gouda railway station to Den Haag Centraal railway station, passing through Zoetermeer railway station. It was opened on May 1, 1870. Stations The main ...

. A railway connection between the two stations was constructed a year later. In 1962, David Jokinen saw an opportunity to put an end to the situation between the two. The plan was not implemented. Despite the plan not being implemented, Staatsspoor station was demolished in 1973, to make way for the

Den Haag Centraal railway station (; 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 railway station opened in 1973, adjacent to its ...

. As a result, The Hague has two main railway stations: Centraal Station and Hollands Spoor. Trains from Amsterdam to Rotterdam and beyond (

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

) tend to stop at The Hague HS, whereas trains from

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

and Eastern and North-Eastern directions (also by

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 ...

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 ...

/Amsterdam) usually stop at Centraal Station. Several trains in southern direction serve both stations.

Train services

The station is served by the following services: *4x per day International services (''Intercity'') The Hague - Rotterdam - Breda - Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels *1x per hour night train (''nachtnet'') services Rotterdam - The Hague - Amsterdam - Utrecht *2x per hour Intercity services Amsterdam - Haarlem - Leiden - The Hague - Dordrecht - Roosendaal - Vlissingen *2x per hour Intercity services Lelystad - Almere - Amsterdam - Schiphol - The Hague - Rotterdam - Dordrecht *2x per hour Intercity services The Hague - Rotterdam - Breda - Eindhoven *4x per hour Local services (''Sprinter'') The Hague - Rotterdam - Dordrecht

Tram services

The Hague's public transit company,

HTM Personenvervoer HTM Personenvervoer NV (HTM, from the former name Haagsche Tramweg Maatschappij) is a public transport company in the Netherlands operating trams, lightrail and buses in The Hague, Rijswijk, Leidschendam, Voorburg, Delft, Zoetermeer, Wateri ...

, operates a public transportation hub in front of the railway station's front entrance. Tram lines 1, 9, 11, 12, 16 and 17 stop here. International services:

Bus services

Den Haag Hollands Spoor also includes a bus station. Several HTM bus lines stop here.

References

External links

Hollands Spoor on the NS website

Live departures and cancellations in English

Dutch Public Transport journey planner
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Den Haag Hollands Spoor Railway Station Hollands Spoor Railway stations on the Oude Lijn Railway stations in the Netherlands opened in 1843 Rijksmonuments in The Hague Renaissance Revival architecture in the Netherlands