Breda–Rotterdam railway

The Breda–Rotterdam railway is a heavily used railway line in the Netherlands running from Breda to Rotterdam, passing through Dordrecht. It is also called the Staatslijn I ("state line I") in Dutch. The line was opened between 1866 and 1877.

Breda–Rotterdam railway
Breda–Rotterdam railway map
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Netherlands
Termini	Breda railway station Rotterdam Centraal railway station
Service
Operator(s)	Nederlandse Spoorwegen
History
Opened	1866-1877
Technical
Line length	49 km (30 mi)
Number of tracks	Breda–Dordrecht double track, Dordrecht–Rotterdam four tracks
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Line from Tilburg 0.0 Breda Line to Roosendaal 4.8 Breda-Prinsenbeek Line from Antwerp Line to Rotterdam Line from 's-Hertogenbosch Line from Roosendaal 14.9 Lage Zwaluwe River Hollands Diep 26.9 Dordrecht Zuid Line from Geldermalsen 29.5 Dordrecht River Oude Maas 31.5 Zwijndrecht Freight line from Zevenaar Kijfhoek Line from Antwerp 39.1 Barendrecht Freight line to Maasvlakte and Europoort 42.2 Rotterdam Lombardijen 44.0 Rotterdam Stadion 45.1 Rotterdam Zuid River Nieuwe Maas 47.5 Rotterdam Blaak 49.4 Rotterdam Centraal Line to Utrecht and Amsterdam Line to The Hague

The railway was opened in phases:

• 1 July 1866: Breda - Lage Zwaluwe - Moerdijk
• 1 January 1872: Lage Zwaluwe - Dordrecht, including the Moerdijk Bridge
• 1 November 1872: Dordrecht - Rotterdam Mallegat
• 1 May 1877: Rotterdam Mallegat - Rotterdam Delftsche Poort
• 2 December 1878: Rotterdam Mallegat - Rotterdam Feijenoord (goods transport only)

Until 1872, transport between Moerdijk and Rotterdam was by ferry.

The railway was electrified in 1950.

With the opening of the Willems Railway Tunnel in 1994, the Luchtspoor through the centre of Rotterdam became redundant. The railway viaducts and the old Willems Railway Bridge over the Nieuwe Maas were subsequently demolished, leaving only the lifting bridge De Hef over the Koningshaven which has been preserved as an industrial heritage site.

Stations

The main interchange stations on the Breda–Rotterdam railway are:

• Breda: to Tilburg, Nijmegen, Roosendaal and Eindhoven
• Dordrecht: to Roosendaal and Gorinchem
• Rotterdam Centraal: to The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam