Rotterdam Public Transport

"Rotterdam Transportation

Rotterdam is well connected in international, national, regional and local public transport systems, as well as by the Dutch motorway system.

Motorways

There are several motorways which run to/from Rotterdam. The following four are part of its 'Ring' (beltway):

* A20 (Ring North): Hoek van Holland - Rotterdam - Gouda

* A16 (Ring East): Rotterdam - Breda (- Belgium)

* A15 (Ring South): Europoort - Rotterdam - Nijmegen

* A4 (Ring West).

The following two other motorways also serve Rotterdam:

* A13, The Hague - Rotterdam

* A29, Bergen op Zoom - Rotterdam

Train

Rotterdam is well connected to the Dutch railroad system, and has several international connections. The train system hosts:

Four trainlines

* South direction Dordrecht-and further (including international to Belgium/France)

* West direction Hoek van Holland

* North-West direction The Hague, Amsterdam

* North-East direction Utrecht

* A fifth alternative train system to the Hague, the Hofplein Line was converted to the light-rail system Randstadrail in 2006.

The four operating trainlines serve seven railway stations within the city boundaries (Rotterdam Centraal, Rotterdam Blaak, Rotterdam Alexander, Rotterdam Noord, Rotterdam Zuid, Rotterdam Lombardijen, Rotterdam Stadion (next to De Kuip, only open for events).

Main connections

* Direct international services to Belgium and France via high speed train system: Thalys

* Frequent international trains to Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium

* Frequent services within the Netherlands:

o Intercity line to The Hague, Leiden, Schiphol airport and Amsterdam (north)

o Intercity line to Utrecht and on to Deventer or Enschede (the east), Leeuwarden (north-west) or Groningen (north-east)

o Intercity line to Dordrecht, Roosendaal and on to Vlissingen (south west)

o Intercity line to Dordrecht, Breda, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Venlo (south east)

o Night services every hour connecting every day of the week to Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, and, with a detour, Utrecht. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday night services (either direct or via a detour) to Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Roosendaal.

o Several semi-fast services and local trains originate or call at Rotterdam Centraal; semi-fast services Amsterdam-Breda.

* Detailed information available from the site of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways)

Light Rail

To bridge the gap between national train services and local public transportation the Dutch Randstad has developed a regional lightrail system called Randstad Rail. First trains ran in September 2006.

Metro

In 1968 Rotterdam was the first Dutch city to open a metro system. Currently the system consists of two main lines, each of which has some variants.

* Erasmus Line: Rotterdam Central station - Albrandswaard (Rhoon, Poortugaal) - Hoogvliet - Spijkenisse

* Caland Line: two lines from the northeast of Rotterdam (Ommoord and since September 2005 to the new constructed neighborhood Nesselande (before it ended at Zevenkamp which is one stop before Nesselande), both in Prins Alexander) and one from Capelle aan den IJssel join; the combined line terminated in the west of Rotterdam, but on 4 November 2002, an extension was opened: the line now connects to the main railway network at Schiedam railway station, has a stop in Pernis and joins the Erasmus Line in Hoogvliet; trains on the Caland Line, like those on the Erasmus Line, terminate in Spijkenisse.

The eastern parts of the Caland Line have some level crossings (with priority), and could therefore be called light rail instead of metro; however, they are integrated in the system; these parts have overhead wires, while the rest has a third rail, the vehicles can handle both.

Tram

Rotterdam offers 10 tramlines with a total length of 93.4 kilometers.

Bus

Rotterdam offers 38 buslines with a total length of 432.7 kilometers.

Fast ferry

Every half hour a fast ferry goes from Rotterdam to Dordrecht and vice versa. The trip takes an hour, inclusive stops along the way. The ferry can carry about 130 passengers and there is space for 60 bicycles. The stops are:

* Rotterdam Willemskade - Krimpen aan den IJssel Stormpolder - Ridderkerk De Schans - Alblasserdam Kade -Papendrecht Westeind - Dordrecht Merwekade."

This articol is release from GNU Free Documentation License. It use material from Wikipedia voices: "Rotterdam".