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The Rotterdam metropolitan area has about 1.1 mill. inhabitants and, although located about 40 km inland, it is the largest sea port in Europe.

The current metro system comprises two lines, one north-south and the other east-west (including two light rail branches), which are interconnected at the western end between Tussenwater and Spijkenisse De Akkers. Initially the two lines were only referred to as the Noord-Zuid-Lijn and the Oost-West-Lijn, until in the late 1990's Rotterdam's people decided to name them after two of the city's most famous sons, the humanist and philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam, and Pieter Caland (1827-1902), the father of the Rotterdam waterway.

The Erasmuslijn (north-south line) starts underground at Rotterdam's Centraal Station, then turns south under Coolsingel, one of the city's main streets. At the southern end of Beurs station, easy transfer is provided to the Calandlijn via only one escalator. The line crosses under the Nieuwe Maas River very near the Erasmus Bridge and comes to the surface just after Wilhelminaplein from where it runs through southern Rotterdam and along the harbour on a viaduct to Zuidplein and Slinge, where about every other train terminates.

From Slinge, the line continues southwest partly at grade and partly on a viaduct through less densely populated areas to the suburbs of Rhoon, Poortugaal and Hoogvliet, and after crossing under the Oude Maas River (old Meuse) it reaches Spijkenisse, where it continues on a viaduct to the southern part of this town. The southern stretch of the line is shared by the Calandlijn.

In 1997 a new station was added at Wilhelminaplein between Leuvehaven and Rijnhaven to serve new city developments in Rotterdam's docklands. This is certainly the most appealing station of the whole network and apart from its great architecture it also has a distinguishing feature: the platforms are inclined as the line goes down into the tunnel under the river Maas.

Stadhuis | Beurs | Wilhelminaplein

Rijnhaven | Zuidplein | Spijkenisse Centrum

Until November 2002, all Calandlijn (east-west line) trains had their western terminus at Marconiplein, in the west of Rotterdam. The route runs underground and parallel to the river towards the city centre, where interchange to the Erasmuslijn is provided at Beurs (formerly Churchillplein). At Blaak, an underground station was also built for NS local trains to Dordrecht. The east-west tunnel terminates at the western end of Kralingse Zoom station, from where trains continue eastwards on the surface.

Marconiplein | Dijkzigt | Beurs

Leaving Capelsebrug, trains heading for 'Ommoord' or 'Nesselande' lift up their pantograph while the train is in motion to switch to Sneltram mode, whereas those going to 'Capelle a/d IJssel' continue with third rail power supply. The 8.4 km Sneltram section is totally segregated from other traffic, mostly fenced with hedges, but with several level crossings. All three eastern branches of the Calandlijn operate every 10 minutes, which allows a 3-4 minute interval along the main section. The northeastern branch, which initially terminated at De Tochten (showing 'Zevenkamp' on the destination sign), was extended mainly on a viaduct to Nesselande (1.5 km) in August 2005,. This section has no level crossings and instead of using an overhead catenary the trains switch back to third rail power supply.

Nieuw Verlaat | De Tochten | De Terp

A 12 km extension of the Calandlijn line towards the west (partly underground through Schiedam) and then under the river Nieuwe Maas (Benelux-Tunnel) to meet the north-south line at Tussenwater opened on 4 November 2002. Although initially promoted as the Beneluxlijn, the line operates as an extension of the Calandlijn serving the Tussenwater - De Akkers section together with the Erasmuslijn. Calandlijn trains from Spijkenisse run through on the eastern branch to Capelle a/d IJssel.

Tussenwater | Vijfsluizen | Parkweg

Erasmuslijn

09 Feb 1968: Centraal Station - Zuidplein
25 Nov 1970: Zuidplein - Slinge
25 Oct 1974: Slinge - Zalmplaat
25 Apr 1985: Zalmplaat - Spijkenisse De Akkers
04 Jun 1997: Wilhelminaplein station added

RandstadRail Erasmuslijn
12 Nov 2006: Rotterdam Hofplein - Nootdorp
03 Sept 2007: Nootdorp - Den Haag Centraal

Calandlijn

10 May 1982: Coolhaven - Capelsebrug
28 May 1983: Capelsebrug - Ommoord Binnenhof (Sneltram)
19 Apr 1984: Graskruid - Zevenkamp De Tochten (Sneltram)
25 Apr 1986: Coolhaven - Marconiplein
26 May 1994: Capelsebrug - Capelle a/d IJssel De Terp
04 Nov 2002: Marconiplein - Tussenwater (- Spijkenisse De Akkers)
29 Aug 2005: Zevenkamp De Tochten - Nesselande

 Projects

After the NS railway line leaving from Hofplein (near Stadhuis metro station) towards Den Haag was converted into a metro line (RandstadRail) in 2006/2007, a 3 km tunnel is being built to connect it to the Erasmuslijn at Centraal Station. On this tunnel section there will be one new underground station called Blijdorp. Construction began in July 2003, for completion in 2008.

More details can be found on the Den Haag page.

In a next stage, the railway line from Schiedam to Hoek van Holland will be connected to the Calandlijn just west of Schiedam Centrum station.

All three branches of the Calandlijn operate every 10 minutes which allows a 3-4 minute interval along the main section. The Erasmuslijn offers trains every 5 minutes between Centraal Station and Slinge and every 10 minutes to De Akkers. On both lines there is a more frequent service during rush hours. The Rotterdam Metro operates from 5:30 until midnight.

FARES (2006, in Euro)

Rotterdam City is part of the all-Netherlands zonal system and general strip cards can be used. From Aug 2005, contactless smart cards (OV-Chipkaart) have been used after access barriers had previously been installed at all stations.

2-strip card - EUR 1.60 (short trip)
3-strip card - EUR 2.40 (1-hour pass for entire city area)
8-strip card - EUR 6.40
15-strip card - EUR 6.70
45-strip card - EUR 19.80

1-Day Pass - EUR 6.40**
2-Day Pass - EUR 9.60**
3-Day Pass - EUR 12.80**

Weekly Pass EUR 26.40*
Monthly Pass EUR 86.00*

* 3 stars (4-5 zones), **entire city area

RET (Official Page)

RandstadRail

retmetro.nl by Joachim Kost

Rotterdam Metro Pictures at railfaneurope.net