History of the Netherlands Railways

The history of the development of rail transport in the Netherlands can be divided into six stages:

• the period up to 1839 - the emergence of plans for the construction of the railway;
• the period from 1840 to 1860 - the railways take the first steps;
• the period from 1860 to 1890 - the government established the procedure for the construction of new lines;
• the period from 1890 to 1938 - the union of many railways into two large ones;
• the period from 1938 to 1992 - Nederlandse Spoorwegen receives a government-guaranteed railway monopoly;
• the period after 1992 is the loss of the monopoly position of Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

False Start

An ambitious officer WA Bake conceived the construction of the first railway in the Netherlands immediately after the opening of the Liverpool-Manchester line in the UK. He planned to build a railway connecting Amsterdam and Cologne ( Germany ) and passing through Arnhem . However, many European countries have already had effective ways to deliver goods and passengers with the Netherlands using horse-drawn transport. The Netherlands is historically known as a trade nation, this was facilitated by a large number of rivers and canals running through the country. Many people have questions about the need for the railway. In addition, the powerful lobby of the ship industry has influenced public opinion. As a result, WA Bake was tired of raising funds for the construction of the railway and abandoned his project forever.

Royal Family Interventions

WC Brade hired by WA Bake continued his work, but he changed direction from Amsterdam towards Rotterdam . A trial line before Haarlem tested the economic viability of the project. Such a change in the route was influenced by the opinion of investors who wanted to have a railway between the two great ports (the port of Amsterdam and the port of Rotterdam ). King William was in a lagging position, as the neighboring countries had already built railways. It could be a threat to the Iron Rhine cargo railroad construction plans.

Building a line

With the blessing of the king, the construction of the railway began. However, the main obstacle was the lack of engineers for the construction of railways. I had to invite experts from other countries, mainly from England . Despite the help of experts, a controversial decision was made to build a 1925 mm wide- gauge road. All neighboring countries used standard gauge. This made the railway incompatible with the roads of the neighboring countries, although it was originally planned to connect with the railways of other countries (later a transfer to a standard gauge was made). Because of this, additional difficulties arose with the delivery of locomotives .

Opening the line

On September 20, the train with the De Arend locomotive ( De Snelheid alternate locomotive) left Amsterdam and arrived, in a record 30 minutes, in Haarlem. Commercial flights began shipping in a few days.

After the first expansion, railroads proved their success, and further development was slow. Railway construction by large companies Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) and Nederlandse Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij (NSR), and several small firms were limited to secondary lines.

HSM Company

After successfully completing the construction of the line between Amsterdam and Haarlem, the company decided to finish the line to Rotterdam . Not all residents, especially landowners, liked the idea of ​​laying a railway through their lands, but other residents were interested in the economic potential of the railway. There is a case ( 1842 ), when one of the landowners (Aernout Hendrik van Wickevoort Crommelin), who owned a small piece of land in Heemsted on the way of the railway, agreed to sell his land in exchange for the railway station in a favorable place. This incident was resolved by explaining to the landowner that there were no stations planned between Haarlem and Leiden (although in reality four stations were built there). Then he bought the site in Delft, where the railway was supposed to pass. HSM first tried to use legal methods, but it would take a lot of time. Then the company built a railroad around this piece of land. The owner of the site after the failure of his plans gave land to the railway. This small change in direction took five days, but saved the company from fulfilling the landowner's requirements. ^[1] Subsequently, there were no significant incidents and the railway line was completed in 1847 .

NSR Company

Another major railway line was built by NSR. The line began in Amsterdam and went to Utrecht and further through Arnhem to Germany. Construction began immediately after the HSM began building its road and investors could not be found even in Germany. Willem I once again became the savior of the railways, he gave personal guarantees in the matter of financing the construction. ^[2] The first section between Amsterdam and Utrecht was opened on December 18, 1843 , and before Arnhem on May 16, 1845 . The last section to Germany was completed 11 years later in 1856 , after the restructuring of the Dutch railways to the standard for Europe gauge.

Small companies during this period built several lines, such as Aachen - Maastricht . However, by 1860 only 325 kilometers of roads were built. ^[3] The real construction boom began later.

As in other countries, the government selected private companies for the construction of railway operations. This led to the concentration of railways in the densely populated provinces of Holland and Utrecht and weak development in the province of Gelderland . Residents of some cities without railways were afraid not to withstand competition with the cities along which the railways passed. They began lobbying the government for the construction of a railway network. ^[four]

Government intervention

In 1860, a government decision was made to build a large railway network. Previously, the government subsidized several lines, but did not build the entire network. The network was designed so that with a minimum number of sites, connect the maximum number of cities. ^[4] Another aspect of the construction was the construction along the railway lines of several large stations (depending on the expected passenger traffic).

Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen

The new private company Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen was founded to service the new lines built by the government. This company was founded by a group of investors who received a construction concession from the state.

Private construction

While the government was building the main railways, private companies continued to build their own lines. For example, HSM, together with the NRS, built a line for passenger and freight traffic from Amsterdam to Germany. Also new directions were laid. Noord-Brabantsch-Duitsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (NBDS) was founded to fill the gap in the St. Petersburg - Berlin - London line .

In the early 1900s, Noord Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij built two lines in the north of Frisland . The line from Leeuwarden to Ferverd was opened in 1901 and extended to Metslauwier the following year. The line branched from Stiens towards Harlingen in 1904 , with a section to Franeker , and another direction to Berlikum . The construction was finally completed in 1913 , when the line reached Anjum .

• ProRail
• Nederlandse Spoorwegen
• Railway Transport Netherlands