Rail transport

Railway network for public transport in the Netherlands

Many trains are double-deckersMain article: Rail transport in the Netherlands

Most distance travelled on Dutch public transport is by rail.[8] Like many other European countries, the Netherlands has a dense railway network, totalling 6,830 kilometres of track,[24] or 3,013 route km, three quarters of which has been electrified.[25] The network is mostly focused on passenger transport[26] and connects virtually all major towns and cities, counting as many train stations as there are municipalities in the Netherlands. The national rail infrastructure is managed by public task company ProRail, and a number of different operators have concessions to run their trains.

Public passenger rail transport is operated mainly by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) (Dutch Railways); minor parts by Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion, Breng, DB Regio, NMBS, Veolia [27] and DB Regionalbahn Westfalen. During week days almost all railway stations are serviced at least twice an hour in each direction. [nb 2], Large parts of the network are serviced by two to four trains per hour on average. Heavily used tracks are serviced up to 8 trains an hour. Per kilometre of track, the Dutch rail network is the busiest in the European Union,[26] handling over a million passengers a day.[24]

In recent years, the four largest railway stations in the Netherlands, the central stations of each of the largest cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, have all entered into major reconstruction and expansion. The rebuild of Rotterdam Central was the first to complete, reopening in March 2014.