RandstadRail () is a

tram-train A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...

network in the

Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area () is a metropolitan area encompassing the cities of Rotterdam and The Hague as well as 21 other municipalities. It was founded in 2014. The area has a population of approximately 2.7 million across . ...

in the west of 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 ...

that is jointly operated by

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 ...

(HTM) and

Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET; ) is the main public transport operator in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It started in 1905 when they took over the city tram lines from RTM (Rotterdamsche Tramweg Maatschappij). It currently operates 64 bus lines, 11 ...

(RET). It connects the cities of

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 ...

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 ...

and

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2023 this had grown to 126.998 ...

, primarily using former

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

and existing

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

tracks. Named after the

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or Circular arc, arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Net ...

conurbation, the light rail network came into operation in 2006, after regular train services on the

Hofpleinlijn The Hofpleinlijn ''(Spoorlijn Rotterdam Hofplein - Scheveningen)'' was one of the two railways between the Dutch cities of The Hague and Rotterdam. In 2006 it was converted to metro-like operation as RandstadRail line E. History The Zuid-Holl ...

and

Zoetermeer Stadslijn Zoetermeer Stadslijn is a light-rail line converted from a former commuter rail line in the Netherlands, between The Hague and Zoetermeer. History Originally, the line was managed by the Dutch Railways (NS). Since June 2006, it has served as a l ...

had been discontinued. The system consists of four routes and serves 73 stations, with a total length of approximately . In 2018, it had a daily ridership of around 125,000 passengers.

Light rail network

The RandstadRail network consists of four routes: one

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

line (E) between The Hague and Rotterdam, and three

lines (3, 4 and 34) between The Hague and Zoetermeer. Line E is operated by RET and uses

high-floor High-floor describes the interior flooring of commuter vehicles primarily used in public transport such as trains, light rail cars and other rail transport, rail vehicles, along with buses and trolleybuses. Interior floor height is generally mea ...

Flexity Swift The Bombardier Flexity Swift is a series of urban and inter-urban tram, light rail, and light metro vehicles manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. It is part of the Bombardier Flexity family of rail vehicles, and like the others, Flexity Swi ...

vehicles, while lines 3, 4 and 34 are operated by HTM and use low-floor RegioCitadis vehicles. Stations that are served by both types of carriages have extended platforms with a higher and a lower part.

Line E

Line E (formerly ) is a

line, which also belongs to the

Rotterdam Metro The Rotterdam Metro () is a rapid transit system operated in Rotterdam, Netherlands and surrounding municipalities by RET. The first line, called ''Noord – Zuidlijn'' (North – South line) opened in 1968 and ran from Centraal Station to Zu ...

network. For a great part, it runs on the former

railway line between

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 ...

and

Rotterdam Hofplein railway station Rotterdam Hofplein railway station in the Netherlands is a former main-line and RandstadRail station. It was the terminus of the former Hofpleinlijn (''Hofplein line'') which ran trains between Rotterdam and Scheveningen, and were later curtaile ...

. After the train services had been discontinued, the track was re-opened as a RandstadRail line in September 2006, running between

Nootdorp Nootdorp () is a small town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is bordered by Zoetermeer to the north, by The Hague (specifically Leidschenveen-Ypenburg) to the west, by Delfgauw to the south and by Pijnacker to the east. Nootdorp was ...

and Hofplein. In November 2006, the line was extended to The Hague. As part of the line's conversion to RandstadRail operation, it began using RET metro trains, and more stops were added and train frequencies increased. Although the conversion had not been flawless, with a series of technical problems and a

derailment In rail transport, a derailment is a type of train wreck that occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway sys ...

, the line has been in full operation since September 2007. In 2010, Hofplein terminus was replaced with the , a bored tunnel connecting the line with the local metro network at

Rotterdam Centraal railway station Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the New Meuse inland ship ...

. In December 2011, the line was further extended to

Slinge metro station Slinge is an above-ground subway station in the south of the city of 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 i ...

in the south of Rotterdam, sharing the section between Rotterdam Centraal and Slinge with the already existing line D.

Lines 3, 4 and 34

The RandstadRail network originally included two

lines: line 3 between

Loosduinen Loosduinen () is a former village in the Netherlands that was a municipality unto itself until 1923, when it was annexed by The Hague and subsequently became a district of the city. Within the district there is also a neighbourhood (Dutch:wijk) c ...

and Zoetermeer Centrum-West, and line 4 between

De Uithof Utrecht Science Park (also known as De Uithof) is a neighbourhood in Utrecht and the largest science park in the Netherlands. It is located to the east of the city. It is the largest campus of Utrecht University. Apart from the faculties of Law, Hu ...

and Lansingerland-Zoetermeer. On 23 July 2020, a third tram-train line was added to the network: line 34, which serves as a combination of lines 3 and 4, connecting Loosduinen to Lansingerland-Zoetermeer railway station. West of

, these lines are operated as regular

street-running A street running train is a train which runs on a Railway track, track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being ref ...

tram lines, partially interlined with the local network and passing through the , a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

under the in the city centre. Between Den Haag Centraal and Zoetermeer, they operate on dedicated tracks as a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system. The section from Den Haag Centraal to Laan van NOI is elevated on a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

. From Laan van NOI to Leidschenveen, the lines share the track and stations with line E. East of Leidschenveen, line 3 follows the same route as the former

, while lines 4 and 34 branch off towards Oosterheem after Seghwaert station. In 2019, the Oosterheem branch was extended from Javalaan to Lansingerland-Zoetermeer.

Other services

ZoRo buses

In December 2012, two bus lines were added to the network. These so-called "ZoRo" buses run between

and

Rodenrijs RandstadRail station Rodenrijs is a metro station, as a part of the Rotterdam metro and the regional light rail system RandstadRail, located in Rodenrijs, the Netherlands. History The railway station opened here on 1 October 1908 as part of the Hofpleinlijn. As th ...

, where they connect with RandstadRail line E. A new bus lane was constructed for the project. The buses are operated by RET and have an almost instant connection to arriving metros at Rodenrijs station. At the termini in Zoetermeer, the ZoRo buses connect with regional bus lines (

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 ...

and

Veolia Transport Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev, later renamed Transdev. Veolia Tr ...

) and RandstadRail lines 3, 4 and 34.

Associated tram lines

Despite not being a part of the RandstadRail network, lines 2 and 19 of HTM's local tram network make use of RandstadRail-liveried RegioCitadis vehicles in addition to the regular

Siemens Avenio The Siemens Avenio is a low floor tram family produced by Siemens Mobility, a subsidiary of the German conglomerate Siemens. It is the successor to the Combino family. The first generation was sold as the Combino Supra , Combino MkII, or Combino ...

trams. For line 19, this is necessary as it lacks

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

s at its termini, meaning that the uni-directional GTL8 vehicles cannot be used on this route. Since 2015, the rolling stock of line 2 has been gradually replaced by Avenio vehicles.

References

External links

Official website
(archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randstadrail Light rail in the Netherlands Railway lines in the Netherlands