The Hague Central Bus Station, The Netherlands

Den Haag Centraal (Dutch pronunciation: [dɛn ˌɦaːx sɛnˈtraːl]; English: "The Hague Central") is the largest railway station in the city of The Hague in South Holland, Netherlands, and with twelve tracks, the largest terminal station in the Netherlands. The railway station opened in 1973, adjacent to its predecessor: Den Haag Staatsspoor, which was subsequently demolished. It is the western terminus of the Gouda–Den Haag railway.

History

Staatsspoor in the early 20th century

Staatsspoor in 1972, with the new Centraal Station under construction in the background
The oldest station in The Hague is Den Haag Hollands Spoor, opened in 1843 by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij when the railway between Amsterdam and Leiden was extended to The Hague and Rotterdam. This station was located at some distance from the city centre, just across what was then the municipal boundary of Rijswijk. In 1870, the Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij (NRS) opened a second station in The Hague closer to the city centre. This station, Den Haag Rijnspoor, would service eastbound trains to Gouda and Utrecht. When the NRS was nationalised in 1890, this Gouda–Den Haag railway became the property of the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen, and the station was renamed Den Haag Staatsspoor.

Den Haag Staatsspoor was a small building designed by A.W. van Erkel situated parallel to the railway, with the entrance facing sideways toward the city centre. This was designed to facilitate an extension of the railway to Scheveningen, which was constructed in 1907 but closed again in 1953. Staatsspoor was connected to Hollands Spoor and the Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway for passengers in the late 19th century, but that connection, too, was later discontinued.[2] The building was notable for containing a royal waiting room for use by the Dutch monarchy.[3]

In 1962, urban designer David Jokinen saw an opportunity to put an end to the situation with two main stations where Staatsspoor and Hollands Spoor each served only part of the rail traffic. The Jokinen Plan included demolishing the Staatsspoor station entirely. The railway from Utrecht and Gouda would terminate at Hollands Spoor, which would then become the city's central railway station. The demolition of the railway to Staatsspoor, meanwhile, would make space for an urban motorway and a monorail line. However, the plan was never realised.[4]

In the 1960s, Nederlandse Spoorwegen planned for The Hague to get a central railway station. While it initially intended to rebuild Hollands Spoor into a central railway station, The municipality of The Hague resisted this plan because it preferred a location closer to the city centre so that government buildings would be more accessible. Moreover, the buildings around Hollands Spoor provided little space for expansion of tracks and platforms in the future. It was therefore decided that a new station would be built next to Staatsspoor. With plans for an extension of the railway to Scheveningen definitively cancelled, this new station would become the terminal station of the Gouda–Den Haag railway. Construction started in 1970, and on 27 September 1973, the construction had advanced enough to allow for the opening a number of platforms. Trains previously headed for Staatsspoor were transferred to Centraal Station, and the now-redundant Staatsspoor was demolished in the same year. At the time of the building's demolition, its royal waiting room was dismantled and stored; it was put on display in the Railway Museum (Netherlands) in Utrecht in the early 2000s.[3] The bus platform was opened in 1975, and construction of Centraal Station finalised in 1976 with the opening of its tram station. The train station was officially opened on 28 May of that year. A chord to connect the station to Den Haag Laan van NOI and the railway to Amsterdam was also completed in 1975, while a chord to connect it to Den Haag Hollands Spoor and the railway to Rotterdam was completed the following year. This ensured that trains coming from north, east and south could all reach Den Haag Centraal.[1][5]

Although Centraal station is the largest station in The Hague, it is served only by terminating trains; Intercity and international trains travelling between Amsterdam and Rotterdam stop only at Hollands Spoor station, while trains from Utrecht and Gouda can only reach Centraal station. The Hague is the only city in the Netherlands retaining two separate major railway hubs, although since its opening Amsterdam Zuid station has been growing in importance as a second major railway hub for Amsterdam, alternative to Amsterdam Centraal station.

By the 2010s, the number of travellers per day had grown to 190,000, and Den Haag Centraal had outgrown its capacity. In order to increase the station's capacity, a renovation of its main hall was started in 2011. The roof was replaced by one which is higher, and made of diamond-shaped glass plates placed in a framework of stainless steel. Moreover, more commercial space was added next to both side entrances, and new tiling was placed. The new main hall was opened by State Secretary Sharon Dijksma and mayor Jozias van Aartsen on 1 February 2016.[6]