Amsterdam Zuid railway station

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Amsterdam Zuid

Code	Asdz
Opened	1978

Coordinates: 52°20′20″N 4°52′23″E / 52.33889°N 4.87306°E / 52.33889; 4.87306

Amsterdam Zuid is a railway station situated in the Zuidas ("south axis") area of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, formerly known as Amsterdam Zuid WTC. In 2006, the station dropped the WTC in the name, in reference to the World Trade Center Amsterdam from its name; in exchange, Amsterdam Bijlmer railway station was renamed Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA railway station after the Amsterdam ArenA.

[edit] History

It lies on the strategic rail route known as the Zuidtak ("south branch"), which was completed in 1993, and connects Schiphol Airport railway station in the west to Weesp in the east by way of Duivendrecht, and as of 2006 also to Utrecht in the southeast. In that year, the Utrechtboog was completed, so that changes at Duivendrecht are no longer necessary for passengers from Schiphol to Utrecht and beyond. These routes from Schiphol therefore bypass the congested lines serving Amsterdam Centraal station, allowing faster connections between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and cities in the north and east of the country (Groningen and Enschede, among others) as well destinations in Germany. The station, which has been extended in 2006, plays an increasingly important role, gradually replacing Amsterdam Centraal as the capital's main station for direct trains to several destinations in the north and east of the country. It is anticipated that in the future Amsterdam Zuid will be served by a number of the trains using the HSL-Zuid.

Amsterdam Zuid is currently served by two lines of the Amsterdam Metro and the Tram line 5, as well as by buses, and will be the southern terminus of the new North/South metro line currently under construction.

[edit] Future

There are plans to rebuild the station, as well as the Amsterdam ring road A10, in a tunnel to enhance the urban qualities of the Zuidas office area. In May 2008 tram line 5 which used to stop at the station was moved to the Strawinskylaan, where the bus services stop. This is so that the new metro line 52 building works can take place here.

[edit] Train services

In recent years Station Zuid has become a major station. In December 2006 the extension of the station was opened, platforms 3 and 4. The operator of trains services is Nederlandse Spoorwegen. They operate 3 types of train from Amsterdam Zuid.

• Intercity These are express trains calling at few stations.
• Stoptrein These are trains that stop at all or most of the stations. Often more local than long distance.
• Sprinter These are trains that stop at all stations and mostly are operated by SGMm 'Sprinter' train sets.

[edit] Metro services

Amsterdam Zuid is a station on the Amsterdam Metro line 50 and 51. The 50 service was opened in 1997. It runs next to the railway line for Isolatorweg to Holendrecht. The line 51 was opened in 1990 when it ran from Centraal Station to Station Zuid. In 1993 it was extended to Poortwachter and in 2004 to Westwijk.

GVB Metro Map, Line 50 is Green, Line 51 is Orange.

[edit] Tram service

GVB operates 1 tram service to Station Zuid. In May 2008 the tram stop was moved from between the metro lines to Strawinskylaan, where the bus services stop.

[edit] Bus services

Bus services depart from Strawinskylaan, 200m north of the station.

[edit] City services

[edit] Regional services

[edit] Gallery

Overview of the station. To the right of the station, the HQ of ABN Amro is just visible.

Combino tram at Amsterdam Zuid station. Note that this photo was taken when trams still had their stop inside the station, rather than the current two stops just outside.

View of the station from between the Zuidas offices.

Overview of tram stops around the station.

[edit] External links