Rotterdam Centraal railway station

Rotterdam Centraal
The station building in February 2014
Location	Netherlands
Coordinates	51°55′28″N 4°28′10″E / 51.92444°N 4.46944°E / 51.92444; 4.46944Coordinates: 51°55′28″N 4°28′10″E / 51.92444°N 4.46944°E / 51.92444; 4.46944
Line(s)	Amsterdam–Rotterdam railway HSL-Zuid Utrecht–Rotterdam railway Breda–Rotterdam railway
Platforms	13
Connections	RET Rotterdam Metro: D, E RET Rotterdam Tram: 4, 7, 8, 12, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 RET: 33, 38, 39, 40, 44, 48 Eurolines
Other information
Station code	Rtd
History
Opened	1847 (first), 21 May 1957 (train), 9 February 1968 (metro/subway), March 2014 (current building)
Services Preceding station   Thalys   Following station Antwerpen-Centraal toward Paris Nord Thalys 9300 Schiphol Airport toward Amsterdam Centraal Antwerpen-Centraal toward Lille Europe Thalys Antwerpen-Centraal toward Bourg-Saint-Maurice Thalys (winter) Antwerpen-Centraal toward Marseille-Saint-Charles Thalys (summer) NS International Schiphol Airport toward Amsterdam Centraal Intercity Direct 900 Breda Terminus NS Hispeed 1000 Terminus Den Haag Hollands Spoor toward Amsterdam Centraal NS International 9200 Terminus Nederlandse Spoorwegen Terminus NS Intercity 500 Rotterdam Alexander toward Groningen NS Intercity 600 Terminus Terminus NS Intercity 1100 Breda toward Eindhoven Terminus NS Nachtnet 1400 Delft toward Utrecht Centraal Rotterdam Blaak toward Vlissingen NS Intercity 2200 Schiedam Centrum toward Amsterdam Centraal Rotterdam Blaak toward Dordrecht NS Intercity 2400 Schiedam Centrum toward Lelystad Centrum Terminus NS Intercity 2800 Rotterdam Alexander toward Utrecht Centraal NS Nachtnet 21400 Terminus Rotterdam Noord toward Uitgeest NS Sprinter 4000 Terminus Schiedam Centrum toward Hoek van Holland Haven NS Sprinter 4100 Schiedam Centrum toward Maassluis West NS Sprinter 4200 Schiedam Centrum toward Den Haag Centraal NS Sprinter 5000 Schiedam Centrum toward Vlaardingen Centrum NS Sprinter 7100 Terminus Terminus NS Sprinter 7700 Rotterdam Noord toward Gouda Goverwelle Rotterdam Metro Stadhuis toward De Akkers Line D Terminus Stadhuis toward Slinge Line E Blijdorp toward Den Haag Centraal
Location
Rotterdam Centraal Location within Randstad

Rotterdam Centraal (Dutch pronunciation: [rɔtərˈdɑm sɛnˈtraːl]) is the main railway station of the city Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The station received an average of 110,000 passengers daily in 2007. The current station building, located at Station Square, was officially opened in March 2014.

Before World War II, Rotterdam did not have a central railway station - instead there were four stations in and around the city centre:

Delftse Poort station was badly damaged by bombing in the Rotterdam Blitz. The new Centraal station was rebuilt just westwards of the site. Its original building was designed by architect Sybold van Ravesteyn and was completed on 13 March 1957, officially opening on 21 May. Maas station had closed in 1953 and trains from Utrecht were diverted to Centraal station via the new Rotterdam Noord station. However, the Hofpleinlijn (which later became part of RandstadRail) continued to bypass the station. Hofplein station was eventually closed in 2010 after the Hofpleinlijn was redirected through a tunnel and connected to Centraal station for the first time.

On 9 February 1968 Princess Beatrix opened the first metro line in the Netherlands at Centraal station. The line connected the station to the south of Rotterdam and is now known as Line D. The first subway station had an island platform with two tracks. On 28 September 2009, a new and more spacious underground station opened right next to the old one, which was immediately demolished. The new station has two island platforms with three tracks.

The mainline station nowadays has seven island platforms with thirteen platform tracks. There are three tracks without platform (tracks 2, 5 and 10). In 2007, it was used by approximately 110,000 passengers a day.

The 1957 station building was closed in 2007 and demolished the next year - making it the first major post-war railway station in the Netherlands to be taken down to make way for a new one. The new station was completed and opened in 2014.

A total reconstruction of the station and its surroundings started in 2004 to cope with an increasing number of trains, for example the high-speed train between Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, and to accommodate for RandstadRail. Furthermore, the existing station, especially the passenger tunnel, also became too small to handle the growing number of passengers. Traveller numbers were projected to be 320,000 per day in 2025. To cope with this increase, a new station was necessary.