World Train Map

Train routes in Netherlands

20 routes · high-speed 4 · classic 11 · night train 2 · heritage 3

20 routes cross Netherlands in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the European Sleeper at 1,200 km; the fastest is the Eurostar (Thalys), running up to 300 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1858. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.

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Part of the Europe train map: every route on the continent, one map.

High-speed (4)

Classic (11)

  • Intercity Zwolle–Roosendaal

    Zwolle → Roosendaal · 205 km · 2 h 43 min

    NS · NS ICM / VIRM

    The long Dutch diagonal, Overijssel to the Belgian border in two and three quarter hours down the IJssel through Deventer and Zutphen and across Brabant, on the state railway the act of 1860 ordered built.

  • Maaslijn

    Nijmegen → Roermond · 84 km · 1 h 18 min

    Arriva · Stadler GTW / Alstom LINT

    The Meuse line, Nijmegen to Roermond down the east bank in an hour and eighteen minutes, the one long Dutch railway that runs north to south rather than in and out of the Randstad.

  • Intercity

    Amsterdam → Groningen · 208 km · 2 h 11 min

    NS · ICM "Koploper" · ICNG

    The northbound Intercity crosses the young Flevoland polders on the Hanzelijn (the Almere–Lelystad stretch past the Oostvaardersplassen wetlands was voted the Netherlands’ most beautiful train journey by NS passengers in 2016), then skirts the low Hondsrug ridge to Groningen in a little over two hours.

  • Intercity

    Amsterdam → Maastricht · 213 km · 2 h 23 min

    NS · DD-IRM "VIRM"

    Double-deck VIRM Intercitys run almost the whole length of the country to Maastricht, the old Dutch city on the Meuse near the Belgian border.

  • Intercity Direct

    Amsterdam → Breda · 123 km · 1 h 8 min

    NS · ICNG · Class 3100

    New ICNG trains take the HSL-Zuid high-speed line, hitting 200 km/h as they link Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Breda without a change.

    Wikipedia ↗
  • Liège–Maastricht railway

    Liège → Maastricht · 31 km · ≈ 39 min

    Arriva · RE 18 · Sneltrein

    Down the Meuse from Liège to Maastricht, a cross-border run open since 1861 and now worked by Arriva's Dutch regional trains.

    Wikipedia ↗
  • Intercity Vlissingen

    Amsterdam → Vlissingen · 218 km · 2 h 44 min

    NS · NS VIRM double-decker

    The long way to the sea: Haarlem, Leiden, The Hague and Rotterdam, then over the Hollands Diep into Zeeland and along the Scheldt through Goes and Middelburg to Vlissingen, on rails finished in 1873.

  • Intercity Den Helder–Nijmegen

    Den Helder → Nijmegen · 197 km · 2 h 43 min

    NS · NS VIRM double-decker

    Coast to the German border in one train: from Den Helder at the tip of North Holland through Alkmaar and Amsterdam, then Utrecht, the edge of the Veluwe and Arnhem to Nijmegen on the Waal.

  • Utrecht–Rotterdam railway

    Rotterdam → Utrecht · 56 km · 37 min

    Nederlandse Spoorwegen · IC 2800

    The Rhenish Railway Company built it between 1855 and 1858; after the Maas station was bombed out of Rotterdam in 1940 the city end was rebuilt on an embankment and reopened in 1953.

  • West Friesland line

    Hoofddorp → Hoorn Kersenboogerd · 59 km · 59 min

    Nederlandse Spoorwegen · Sprinter 4100

    Schiphol and Amsterdam at one end, then the Hollandsche IJzeren’s branch of 1884 north through Purmerend into West Friesland, extended past Hoorn in 1885.

  • Zwolle–Emmen railway

    Zwolle → Emmen · 75 km · 52 min

    Arriva · RE 20 · RS 20

    Arriva’s Vechtdal line from Zwolle up the Vecht by Dalfsen and Ommen to Hardenberg, then north by Coevorden to Emmen: the part still open of a line to Stadskanaal built from 1903 to 1905.

    Wikipedia (NL) ↗
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Night train (2)

Heritage (3)

Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence

What is the fastest train in Netherlands?

The Eurostar (Thalys), running Paris to Amsterdam at up to 300 km/h. It is one of 20 routes in Netherlands in this atlas.

Are there night trains in Netherlands?

Yes, 2 sleeper services in this atlas serve Netherlands: European Sleeper (Brussels – Prague), Nightjet Zurich–Amsterdam (Zurich – Amsterdam).

Can you cross the border by train from Netherlands?

Yes, 7 of its 20 routes continue into another country: Eurostar (Thalys) (Paris – Amsterdam), European Sleeper (Brussels – Prague), Nightjet Zurich–Amsterdam (Zurich – Amsterdam), ICE International (Berlin – Amsterdam), among others.

Which is the most scenic railway in Netherlands?

No line in Netherlands is classed scenic or mountain in this atlas; its 20 routes are everyday services rather than journeys taken for the view.

Cross-border lines continue into