Hook of Holland is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city. Its district covers an area of 16.7 km2, of which 13.92 km2 is land. On 1 January 1999 it had an estimated population of 9,400.
Nederlandse Spoorwegen is a Dutch company, the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. Founded in 1938, NS provides rail services on the Dutch main rail network. The Dutch rail network is the busiest in the European Union, and third busiest in the world after Switzerland and Japan.
The Rheingold ('Rhinegold') was a named train that operated between Hook of Holland, near Rotterdam, and Geneva, Switzerland, a distance of 1,067 kilometres (663 mi), until 1987. Another section of the train started in Amsterdam and was coupled to the Hoek cars in Utrecht. The Rheingold ran along the Rhine River via Arnhem, Netherlands, and Cologne, Germany, using special luxury coaches. It was named after Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold opera, which romanticized the Rhine. From 1965 until the train's discontinuation in 1987, the Rheingold was a first-class-only Trans Europ Express (TEE) train.
EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. Each EC train is operated by more than one European Union or Swiss rail company, under a multilateral co-operative arrangement, and all EC trains link important European cities with each other.
The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), was an international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network comprised 45 trains, connecting 130 different cities, from Spain in the west to Austria in the east, and from Denmark to Southern Italy.
The HSL-Zuid, is a 125 kilometre-long Dutch high-speed railway line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North Brabant. Together with the Belgian HSL 4 it forms the Schiphol–Antwerp high-speed railway. Originally scheduled to be in service by 2007, the first public operations began on 7 September 2009, after a ceremony on 6 September.
Harwich International railway station is on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving Harwich International Port and the Parkeston area of Essex. It is 68 miles 72 chains (110.88 km) from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Wrabness to the west and Dovercourt to the east. Its three-letter station code is HPQ, which derives from its original name, Harwich Parkeston Quay.
Dutchflyer is an integrated passenger service between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Formerly known as Amsterdam Express, Dutchflyer is a rail/sea/rail service operated jointly by Stena Line, the Dutch state railway operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Rotterdam metro and bus company Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram and NS’ UK subsidiary Greater Anglia.
Hoek van Holland Haven is a metro station on Line B of the Rotterdam Metro, in Hook of Holland, Rotterdam, South Holland. Trains connect with the Stena Line Dutchflyer boat service to Harwich International in England. Until 1 April 2017, it was a railway station served by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. On 30 September 2019, it reopened as the western terminus of RET Metro Line B. Work is underway to extend the line further west to a new Hoek van Holland Strand station.
The history of rail transport in the Netherlands is generally considered to have begun on September 20, 1839, when the first train, drawn by De Arend, successfully made the 16 km trip from Amsterdam to Haarlem. However, the first plan for a railroad in the Netherlands was launched only shortly after the first railroad opened in Britain.
Stena Line Holland BV is a subsidiary of Stena Line that operates ferry routes between Harwich and Killingholme on the east coast of England and Hook of Holland and Europort in the Netherlands. The head office is in Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. Apart from during the two world wars there has been a continuous service operating between these two countries, initially by the railway companies serving the east coast of England together with Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland a Dutch ferry company. In 1990 Stena Line had purchased both parts and Stena Line Holland BV came into being.
The Hook Continental was a passenger train running between London's Liverpool Street Station and Harwich Parkeston Quay where it connected with the night ferry sailing to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. It was introduced as a named express by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1927, and was part of the marketing strategy pushing the concept of almost seamless travel from London overnight to numerous European destinations utilising the company's own ships and the rail connections from the Hook of Holland.
A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available.
Diemen is the main railway station of the municipality of Diemen, Netherlands. It is located on the Amsterdam–Zutphen railway between Amsterdam Science Park and Weesp. The station was first opened in 1882 and then closed in 1929. It was reopened at the same location in 1974. The station building was completed in 1978. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Among the direct destinations are Almere, Amersfoort, Amsterdam Centraal, Hilversum, Lelystad, and Zwolle. There are connections to two bus services operated by GVB.
Deventer is a railway station in Deventer, Netherlands. The station was opened on 5 August 1865 and is on the Apeldoorn–Deventer railway, Deventer–Almelo railway and the Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
The main public transport in the Netherlands for longer distances is by train. Long-distance buses are limited to a few missing railway connections. Regional and local public transport is by bus, and in some cities by metro and tram. There are also ferries.
The Étoile du Nord was an international express train. It linked Paris Nord in Paris, France, with Brussels, Belgium, and, for most of its existence, also with Amsterdam CS in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its name meant literally "Star of the North", and alluded not only to its route heading north from Paris, but also to one of its original operators, the Chemin de Fer du Nord.
The Erasmus was an express train that linked The Hague, the Dutch seat of Government, with Munich in Germany. The train was named after the Dutch Renaissance humanist Desiderius Erasmus.
The Benjamin Britten was an international train service linking Amsterdam with London.
