the hague central station

Is the largest train station in the Dutch city of The Hague. It is the largest terminal station in the Netherlands with 12 tracks. The station was completed in 1973, next to the older station Den Haag Staatsspoor.

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

In 1870, the Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij (Dutch Rhine-railroad Company) opened a second station in the Hague, Den Haag Rijnspoor 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.

In the 1970s, Nederlandse Spoorwegen decided to build Centraal Station in The Hague. The best location seemed to be the Hollands Spoor-station, as this was the station for mainline trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Nevertheless, The Hague wanted the station to be at the location of the Staatsspoor-station, so the new Centraal Station was built right next to it. At the moment this was completed and in use, the old station was demolished. Connecting tracks were built to connect the line from Amsterdam to Den Haag Centraal. Although The Hague now has a Central Station, only trains for which The Hague is the final destination halt here. Still, all Intercity- and international trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam only halt at Hollands Spoor. Nowadays, The Hague is the only city in the Netherlands which still has two major train stations.