Utrecht Centraal railway station

Geschiedenis

Utrecht Centraal is the central railway station for the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It is the largest and busiest railway station in the Netherlands, with sixteen platforms (of which thirteen are through tracks) and with more than 176,000 passengers per day. With Utrecht being located centrally in the Netherlands, Utrecht Centraal is also the most important railway hub of the country with more than 900 trains leaving this station per day, making it the largest junction station in the Netherlands. Therefore, disruptions at the station can easily affect the rest of the country's railway network.International, national and local services call at the station, most notably the InterCityExpress trains to Frankfurt and Basel, intercity services to the northern and southern Netherlands, and local commuter services providing access to towns all over the Randstad.HistoryThe first station at the site was opened on December 18, 1843, when the Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij opened the first station on Utrecht territory. In 1938, the station became the central station as the Maliebaanstation, on the other side of the city, was closed and the line from Hilversum was diverted into the central station.