Utrecht – Rotterdam railway line

Utrecht – Rotterdam
An InterCity near Moordrecht ; in the background a sprinter
Route length:	60 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	1,500 V  =
Top speed:	140 km / h
Legend from 's Hertogenbosch and from Arnhem 0 Utrecht Centraal to Kampen to Amsterdam Amsterdam Rijn Canal A 2 3 Utrecht Leidsche Rijn opening 2010 5 Utrecht Terwijde 7th Vleuten from Breukelen Oude Rijn 16 Woerden after suffering A 12 30th Gouda Goverwelle 32 Gouda cheese Gouwe after Alphen a / d Rijn to The Hague 41 Nieuwerkerk a / d IJssel 44 Capelle Schollevaar 46 Rotterdam Alexander A 16 A 20 Rotte 55 Rotterdam North Erasmuslijn Randstadrail A 20 Noorderkanaal to Amsterdam SFS from Schiphol from Amsterdam 60 Rotterdam Centraal to Breda and SFS to Antwerp

The Utrecht – Rotterdam railway line is a railway line between Utrecht and Rotterdam . The railway line is one of the most important and busiest lines in the Netherlands. The length of the route is about 60 kilometers.

history

The first section between Utrecht and Gouda was opened on May 21, 1855. A month later the piece between Gouda and Rotterdam-Boerengat. This line was closed on October 4, 1953, as the line was led over a new route via Rotterdam Noord station. Most of the line is double-track, with the exception of the sections between Harmelen and Woerden and between Gouda-Goverwelle and Gouda, where the line has four tracks . The maximum permissible speed is usually 140 km / h, except for the section between Woerden and Gouda, where it is 130 km / h. The line was electrified in 1938 on the Utrecht – Nieuwerkerk section and in 1953 on the Nieuwerkerk – Rotterdam Centraal section. There are ten train stations on the line. The route length was around 52 kilometers up to 1953; the new construction of the route via Rotterdam Noord has lengthened it by almost eight kilometers.

The Harmelen railway accident , which occurred near Woerden station on the line on January 8, 1962, was the head-on collision of two trains and the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands .

Train traffic

At the moment, the Inter-City trains from Utrecht Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal run every 15 minutes, as well as the Inter-City trains from Utrecht via Gouda to The Hague , which also run every 15 minutes and two Inter-City trains that run from Utrecht via Woerden to Leiden every half hour . The regional trains from Utrecht via Gouda to The Hague also run every 30 minutes. Regional trains between Rotterdam and Woerden, which come from Amsterdam or Uitgeest, also run every 30 minutes. Two additional regional trains also run on the route at peak times.