Weesp–Leiden railway

Schiphollijn
Overview
Owner	ProRail
Locale	Netherlands
Termini	Weesp Leiden Centraal
Stations	9
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Operator(s)	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
History
Opened	1978
Technical
Track length	30 kilometres (19 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map km Weesp–Lelystad railway to Almere Centrum Amsterdam–Zutphen railway to Amersfoort River Vecht 142.4 Weesp Amsterdam-Rhine Canal Amsterdam–Zutphen railway to Amsterdam Centraal 148.7 Diemen Zuid Amsterdam–Arnhem railway to Amsterdam Centraal 150.3 0.0 Duivendrecht Utrechtboog flyover Amsterdam–Arnhem railway to Utrecht River Amstel 4.1 Amsterdam RAI 5.5 Amsterdam Zuid Amsterdam–Schiphol railway to Amsterdam Centraal Ringvaart 14.3 Schiphol Airport 19.9 Hoofddorp HSL-Zuid to Rotterdam 24.3 Nieuw Vennep Ringvaart 34.7 Sassenheim Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam rly to Haarlem Leiden Centraal to Woerden Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam rly to Den Haag

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

Opening

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.

Extension

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 Airport and the city of Zaandam. The line 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 station opened to provide a connection between the new line and the Amsterdam–Arnhem railway. The most important stations on the line currently are: Leiden Centraal, Hoofddorp, Schiphol airport, Amsterdam Zuid, Duivendrecht and Weesp.