page_title: Interurban
section_title: Netherlands
hierarchical_section_title: Interurban / Other countries / Netherlands
context_page_description: The interurban is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like light electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. They were prevalent in North America between 1900 and 1925 and were used primarily for passenger travel between cities and their surrounding suburban and rural communities. Large networks have also been built in countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland, many of which survive to the present day. Interurban as a term encompassed the companies, their infrastructure, and the cars that ran on the rails.
  The interurban, especially in the United States, was a valuable cultural institution. Most roads and town streets were unpaved, and transportation was by horse-drawn carriages and carts. The interurban provided vital transportation links between the city and countryside. In 1915, 15,500 miles of interurban railways were operating in the United States. For a time, interurban railways were the fifth-largest industry in the United States. By 1930, most interurbans in North America were gone, with few surviving into the 1950s.
context_section_description: Since the era of steam and horse tramways, sprawling tram networks in the Netherlands have been extended to neighbouring cities. The vast majority of these interurban lines were not electrified and operated with steam and sometimes petrol or diesel tramcars. Many didn't survive the 1920s and 30s for the same reasons American interurbans went bust, but those that did were put back into service during the War years, or at least the remaining parts not yet demolished. One of the largest systems, nicknamed the Blue Tram, was run by the Noord-Zuid-Hollandsche Stoomtramweg-Maatschappij and survived until 1961. Another, the RTM (Rotterdamse Tramweg Maatschappij), which ran in the river delta south-west of Rotterdam, survived until early January 1966 and its demise sparked the rail-related heritage movement in the Netherlands in earnest with the founding of the Tramweg Stichting (Tramway Foundation). Many systems such as the Hague tramway and the Rotterdam tramway also included long interurban extensions which were operated with larger, higher-speed cars. In close parallel to North America, many of the last interurban systems were abandoned from the 1950s after tram companies switched to buses. Of this generation of interurbans, only one section survives - a line from The Hague to Scheveningen, which operates as part of the extensive local city tram network.
  Instigated by the Oil-crisis in the 1970s, the interurban tramway has enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance in the form of the Sneltram, a modern light rail system that uses high-profile, metro-style vehicles and could operate as parts of metro networks. Notably, the Rotterdam Metro operates a number of Sneltram sections using metro vehicles and catenary power on private right-of-way that includes level crossings. Line E, run by Randstadrail, is a true interurban line extending to The Hague and interoperates with tramcars on the Zoetermeer Line. The Zoetermeer Line itself was originally designed as Sneltram, but operated from 1977 to the start of work in June 2006 with heavy-rail trains (type SGM, known as Sprinters, a 2-car Electric Multiple Unit). From June 2006 until September 2007 the line was converted to light-rail/sneltram use, which, after initial problems, proved very successful, hitting ridership targets years ahead of predicted goals. This success is in no small part due to the excellent riding qualities of the Regio-Citadis from manufacturer Alstom, based on the type delivered to the German city of Kassel. Almost parallel with the Zoetermeer Line the city of Utrecht mandated the building of a new Interurban system, connecting the main station with new suburbs south of the city as well as designated growth-towns, the villages of Nieuwegein and IJsselstein. The new line, named SUNIJ, has the shape of an inverted a-symmetrical Y and was opened in stages in the early 1980s. The vehicles were build new and based heavily on the German Stadtbahn B type. In 2020 the line is extended on the north side of the network to a new terminus near the University hospital east of the city and simultaneously converted from high-floor Stadtbahn to low-floor tramway cars, build by Spanish manufacturer CAF.
caption: A NZH 'Blue Tram' at Katwijk.
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