Weesp–Leiden railway

Schiphollijn
Overview
Type Heavy rail
System Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Locale North and South Holland
Termini Weesp
Leiden Centraal
Stations 9
Operation
Opened 1978
Owner ProRail
Operator(s) Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Technical
Track length 30 kilometres (19 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map

The Weesp–Leiden railway (Dutch: Schiphollijn) is a railway line in the Netherlands which runs between the cities of Weesp and Leiden; the line also passes through and serves Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

History

The first section of the Schiphollijn was opened on 20 December 1978 between Schiphol and Amsterdam Zuid. At the time, this section of railway was not connected to the rest of the Dutch railway network. This section of the Schiphollijn features a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi)-long tunnel, in which Schiphol railway station is located. When it was constructed, Schiphol was the only railway station in the Netherlands to be in-tunnel.

The line was extended in both directions in 1981 to Amsterdam RAI and Leiden Centraal; new stations were opened at Hoofddorp and Nieuw-Vennep.

In 1986, a connection to Amsterdam Centraal was completed: the Amsterdam–Schiphol railway. Stations were opened at Amsterdam Lelylaan, Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan and Amsterdam Sloterdijk. Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan was closed in 2000, after the opening of the Hemboog: a chord at Amsterdam Sloterdijk which connects Schiphol and the city of Zaandam.

The Schiphollijn was completed in 1993 when the railway was extended to the town of Weesp. This enabled direct connections to Schiphol Airport from the eastern and northern provinces of the Netherlands to Schiphol. Duivendrecht railway station opened to provide a connection between the new line and the Amsterdam–Arnhem railway.

The most important stations on this line are:

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