The Hofpleinlijn 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.
The Zuid-Hollandsche Electrische Spoorweg-Maatschappij (ZHESM) company was founded in 1900 to build electric railway lines in the province of South Holland. Their first railway line connected Den Haag Hollands Spoor station with the sea side resort of Scheveningen. This line opened with steam locomotives on May 1, 1907, and was electrified in 1909.[1]
Its second line connected The Hague with Rotterdam. It opened in 1908, and was the first electrified railway line in the Netherlands. The terminus in Rotterdam was Rotterdam Hofplein station, which gives the line its name.
The ZHESM was not connected to the main railway network in the Rotterdam area, which meant that it never had more than local significance. In 1953 the line to Scheveningen closed. The line between The Hague and Hofplein was conerted to metro-lke operation in 2006. Hofplein station was closed in 2010, when a tunnel connected the line to the Rotterdam Metro at Rotterdam Central Station.