Amersfoort railway station 3.74

Amersfoort railway station is the main railway station in Amersfoort, in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The station was an important link between the western part of the Netherlands and the north and east of the country until December 2012 when the Hanzelijn opened.HistoryThe original station building opened on 20 August 1863, and closed in 1904. It was called Amersfoort NCS and is located next to the railway tracks 200m east of the end of the platforms of the current station. This first station opened as part of the Utrecht–Kampen railway ("Centraalspoorweg"), which runs from Utrecht via Amersfoort to Zwolle and Kampen.In 1874 the Gooilijn opened, running from Amsterdam via Hilversum to Amersfoort. Two years later the line was extended to form the Oosterspoorweg ("East rail line") from Amersfoort to Apeldoorn and Zutphen. In 1886 a railway line opened from Amersfoort to Kesteren, offering a direct service between Amsterdam and Nijmegen. However, the 1863 station was just too far east for the line, and so another station was built on the Kesteren line, called Amersfoort Stad. Parts of the Kesteren line still exist today. To permit connections between the two stations, a third station was built, called Amersfoort Aansluiting (“Amersfoort Connection”). Because this meant there were three stations all close to each other, it was decided to consolidate them and the current station was built and opened in 1901. It was renovated in 1997, at which time a third island-platform, as well as an exit on the north side of the station, were built.