Rotterdam - Transport

Transport

Rotterdam is well connected by international, national, regional and local public transport systems, as well as by the Dutch motorway network.

Motorways
There are several motorways which run to/from Rotterdam. The following four are part of its 'Ring' (ring road):

• A20 (Ring North): Hoek van Holland – Rotterdam – Gouda
• A16 (Ring East): Rotterdam – Breda (- Antwerp – Paris)
• A15 (Ring South): Europoort – Rotterdam – Nijmegen
• A4 (Ring West).

The following two other motorways also serve Rotterdam:

• A13, (Amsterdam -) The Hague – Rotterdam
• A29, Bergen op Zoom – Rotterdam

Airport
Much smaller than the international hub Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam The Hague Airport (formerly known as Zestienhoven) is the third largest airport in the country, behind Schiphol Airport and Eindhoven Airport. Located north of the city, it has shown a very strong growth over the past five years, mostly caused by the growth of the low-cost carrier market. For business travelers Rotterdam The Hague Airport offers advantages due to rapid handling of passengers and baggage. Environmental regulations make further growth uncertain.

Train

Rotterdam is well connected to the Dutch railway network, and has several international connections:

• South direction Dordrecht, Breda, Eindhoven, Flushing (Vlissingen) (also international trains to Belgium/France)
• West direction Hoek van Holland
• North-West direction The Hague, Leiden, Amsterdam
• North direction (high-speed rail) Schiphol, Amsterdam
• North-East direction Utrecht and further
• A fifth alternative train system to the Hague, the Hofplein Line was converted to the light rail system Randstadrail in 2006.
• The city is often publicised as the terminus of the Eurasian Land Bridge.

Railway stations

• Rotterdam Centraal -Rotterdam's main station
• Rotterdam Alexander – Eastern part of Rotterdam
• Rotterdam Blaak – Close to the centre of Rotterdam
• Rotterdam Lombardijen – Most Southern part of Rotterdam
• Rotterdam Noord – Northern part of Rotterdam
• Rotterdam Zuid –Northern part of the Southern part of Rotterdam
• Rotterdam Stadion – A station near the De Kuip stadium, open in connection with football matches and music concerts

The main connections:

• Direct international services to Belgium and France via high speed train system: Thalys
• Frequent international trains to Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium
• Frequent services within the Netherlands:
  • Intercity line to The Hague, Leiden, Schiphol airport and Amsterdam (north)
  • Intercity line to Utrecht and on to Deventer or Enschede (the east), Leeuwarden (north-west) or Groningen (north-east)
  • Intercity line to Dordrecht, Roosendaal and on to Vlissingen (south west)
  • Intercity line to Dordrecht, Breda, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Venlo (south east)
  • Night services every hour connecting every day of the week to Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, and, with a detour, Utrecht. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday night services (either direct or via a detour) to Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Roosendaal.
  • Several semi-fast services and local trains originate or call at Rotterdam Centraal; semi-fast services Amsterdam-Breda.
• Detailed information available from the site of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways)

In Rotterdam, public transport services are provided by these companies:

• NS (Dutch Railways) ; Train services
• RET (Rotterdam Elektrische Tram); Tram, city-bus, metro, randstadrail and ferry-services in Rotterdam and surrounding cities.
• Q-buzz (company owned 51% by NS and 49% by KLM) ; Province bus services.
• Arriva Netherlands ; Province bus services.
• Connexxion ; Province bus services.
• Veolia ; Province bus services.

Metro

In 1968 Rotterdam was the first Dutch city to open a metro system. Currently the system consists of three main lines, each of which has some variants. The system has 78.3 km of railtracks and there are 62 stations. The system is operated with 5 lines, 3 on the Caland-line, 1 on the Eramusline and 1 on the Hofpleinline and a section of the Eramusline.

• Erasmus Line: Rotterdam Central station – Albrandswaard (Rhoon, Poortugaal) – Hoogvliet – Spijkenisse
• Caland Line: two lines from the northeast of Rotterdam (Ommoord and since September 2005 to the new constructed neighborhood Nesselande (before it ended at Zevenkamp which is one stop before Nesselande), both in Prins Alexander) and one from Capelle aan den IJssel join; the combined line terminated in the west of Rotterdam, but on 4 November 2002, an extension was opened: the line now connects to the main railway network at Schiedam railway station, has a stop in Pernis and joins the Erasmus Line in Hoogvliet; trains on the Caland Line, like those on the Erasmus Line, terminate in Spijkenisse.

The eastern parts of the Caland Line have some level crossings (with priority), and could therefore be called light rail instead of metro; however, they are integrated in the system; these parts have overhead wires, while the rest has a third rail, the vehicles can handle both.

• Hofpleinline: The Hague - Voorburg - Leidschendam - Nootdorp - Pijnacker - Berkel - Several station on the northside of Rotterdam - Central Station. This line connects to the Erasmus-line. Trains run to Slinge (Rotterdam South). This line is called the "Randstadrail E". The randstadrail is developed to bridge the gap between national train services and local public transportation the Dutch Randstad has developed a regional light rail system called Randstad Rail. First trains ran in September 2006.

Tram

The Rotterdam tramway network offers 9 regular tram lines and 4 "special" tram lines with a total length of 93.4 kilometres. Service Tramlines in Rotterdam as of 2010:

• 2: (Rotterdam) Charlois – Rotterdam Lombardijen NS – (Rotterdam) Groene Tuin (Drives only at the Southern part of the city)
• 4: (Rotterdam) Molenlaan – Rotterdam CS – (Rotterdam) Marconiplein
• 7: (Rotterdam) Woudestein – Rotterdam CS – (Rotterdam) Willemsplein
• 8: (Rotterdam) Spangen – Rotterdam CS – (Rotterdam) Kleiweg
• 20: Rotterdam CS – Rotterdam Lombardijen NS – (Rotterdam) Thialf
• 21: (Schiedam) Woudhoek – Station Schiedam Centrum – Rotterdam CS – (Rotterdam) De Esch
• 23: (Vlaardingen) Holy – Station Schiedam Centrum – Rotterdam CS – (Rotterdam) Beverwaard
• 25: (Rotterdam) Schiebroek – Rotterdam CS – (Barendrecht) Carnisselande

Special tram lines:

• 10: Historical tram line, only runs in summer and throughout the whole city for tourist information. Using historical Rotterdam Trams from the year 1928.
• 18: Tramline from Rotterdam Central Station towards Park, drives only at the Dunya Festival and during the Rotterdam World Port Days.
• 29: CS – De Kuip (English: The Tube, Feyenoord stadium) or CS – Het Kasteel (English:The Castle, Sparta Stadium). Football- tramline, drives only at big footballgames at either De Kuip or Het Kasteel.
• Snert-tram: Historical tram, only in winter as a tourist tram to drive through Rotterdam and meanwhile providing people on board with a cup of "Snert"; Rotterdamish dialect for the Dutch word: Erwtensoep (English: Pea-soup). Using historical Rotterdam Tram from 1968.
• IJsjes-tram: Summer-edition to the Snert-tram, providing tourist not with Snert but with ijsjes (English: Ice cream).

Bus
Rotterdam offers 33 city bus lines with a total length of 432.7 kilometres.

RET runs buses in the city of Rotterdam and surrounding places like Spijkenisse, Rhoon, Poortugaal, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Delft and Cappele a/d. IJssel. Buslines:

• 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48,50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79 and 80.

Qbuzz runs buslines from Rotterdam to surrounding towns or within surrounding towns itself such as Zoetermeer, Berkel & Rodenrijs, Bergschenhoek, Pijnacker and Delft. Buslines:

• 96, 97, 98, 126, 137, 140, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 170, 171, 173, 174, 181, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188, 204 and 290.

Arriva Netherlands, Connexxion and Veolia runs busses from other cities to Rotterdam.

Water bus
Every half hour a water bus (Waterbus route 1) goes from Rotterdam to Dordrecht and vice versa. The trip takes an hour, inclusive stops along the way. The ferry can carry about 130 passengers and there is space for 60 bicycles. The stops are:

• Rotterdam Willemskade – Krimpen aan den IJssel Stormpolder – Ridderkerk De Schans – Alblasserdam Kade -Papendrecht Westeind – Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht Veerweg – Zwijndrecht Veerplein – Dordrecht Merwekade.