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Rotterdam Central Station

Rotterdam Centraal
Rtd CS-III.JPG
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 Railway line RET Rotterdam Metro: D, E
Railway line RET Rotterdam Tram: 4, 7, 8, 12, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25
Bus transport RET: 33, 38, 39, 40, 44, 48
Bus transport 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
toward Paris Nord
Thalys 9300
toward Lille Europe
Thalys
Thalys (winter)
Thalys (summer)
NS International
Intercity Direct 900
Terminus
NS Hispeed 1000 Terminus
NS International 9200 Terminus
Nederlandse Spoorwegen
Terminus NS Intercity 500
toward Groningen
NS Intercity 600 Terminus
Terminus NS Intercity 1100
toward Eindhoven
Terminus NS Nachtnet 1400
toward Vlissingen
NS Intercity 2200
toward Dordrecht
NS Intercity 2400
Terminus NS Intercity 2800
NS Nachtnet 21400 Terminus
toward Uitgeest
NS Sprinter 4000 Terminus
NS Sprinter 4100
NS Sprinter 4200
NS Sprinter 5000
NS Sprinter 7100 Terminus
Terminus NS Sprinter 7700
Rotterdam Metro
toward De Akkers
Line D Terminus
toward Slinge
Line E
Location
Rotterdam Centraal is located in Randstad
Rotterdam Centraal
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.


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