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Den Haag (The Hague) has a population of approx. 480,000, with some 975,000 in the metropolitan area. It is situated in the west of Randstad Holland. The Hague is the seat of the national government and home of international institutions like Europol, the Peace Palace, the International Crime Court of the UN, and more than 80 embassies and many multinational companies. The city has a tram network with a total length of 105 km - click here for more details.

On 16 October 2004, a short tram tunnel opened in central Den Haag after several years of delay. The 1.3 km underground section runs under Grote Marktstraat and includes two underground stations, Grote Markt and Spui, both built together with a large car park. The tram tunnel is used by lines 2, RR3, RR4 and 6.

The underground tram section (Souterrain) is part of a large project called RandstadRail, which basically consists of two parts:

The former suburban railway, the Zoetermeer Stadslijn formerly operated by NS (Dutch Railways), was converted from heavy rail to light rail operation and linked it to the tram network of Den Haag. The stations were rebuilt with 30 cm high platforms and new stops were added, the most spectacular being the one at Beatrixkwartier (designed by Zwarts and Jansma), in a new office development area. In Zoetermeer, a 2.5 km branch to Oosterheem was added to the existing loop. The two Zoetermeer lines were linked to the western legs of the existing tram lines 3 and 6 (now cut back to Leyenburg) and are operated by HTM with new Alstom Regio Citadis rolling stock:

RR3: Loosduinen - Den Haag CS - Zoetermeer loop - Centrum West
RR4: De Uithof - Den Haag CS - Zoetermeer Centrum West - Oosterheem

Grote Markt | Spui | Beatrixkwartier

Leidschenveen | Zoetermeer Centrum West | Seghwaert

The former NS Hofpleinlijn between Rotterdam and Den Haag that left Rotterdam from the now-closed Hofplein Station was converted from heavy rail to metro operation in 2006. The maximum operation speed is 100 km/h, the power supply on the Hofpleinlijn was changed from 1500 V dc to 750 V dc.In Aug. 2010, the new line was extended underground from Melanchthonweg to Rotterdam Centraal, where it joins the north-south metro line D (formerly known as Erasmuslijn); through service to Slinge was introduced on 11 Dec 2011. In Den Haag, the trains from Rotterdam terminate on the lower level of the Centraal Station. Stations on this line have 100 cm high platforms. On the interurban section of RandstadRail are several level crossings.

Between Leidschenveen and Laan van Noi, both systems, metro and light rail, share tracks. Platforms at these stations have both 30 cm and 90 cm high sections.

Laan van NOI | Pijnacker Centrum | Rotterdam Hofplein

16 Oct 2004: tram tunnel Spui - Grote Markt

29 Oct 2006: Den Haag Westeinde - Zoetermeer Centrum West (RandstadRail 3)
29 Oct 2006: Den Haag Monstersestraat – Zoetermeer Oosterheem (RandstadRail 4)

12 Nov 2006: Rotterdam Hofplein - Den Haag Centraal (RandstadRail Erasmuslijn)

29 Nov 2006: Service suspended on all routes following derailments, except for the section Rotterdam Hofplein - Nootdorp

03 Sept 2007: Service resumed between Nootdorp and Den Haag Centraal Station (RandstadRail Erasmuslijn)
08 Oct 2007: Service resumed between Den Haag Centraal and Zoetermeer Javalaan (RandstadRail 4)
20 Oct 2007: Service resumed between Den Haag Centraal and Zoetermeer Seghwaert (RandstadRail 3)
27 Oct 2007: Service resumed between Zoetermeer Seghwaert and Zoetermeer Centrum West (RandstadRail 3)

20 Jan 2009: Berkel-Westpolder station added
17 May 2010: Meijersplein added
17 Aug 2010: Melanchthonweg - Rotterdam Hofplein closed
17 Aug 2010: Melanchthonweg - Rotterdam Centraal
11 Dec 2011: Rotterdam Centraal - Slinge (through service on existing metro line)
19 May 2019: Javalaan - Lansingerland-Zoetermeer (2 km).

HTM - Den Haag City Transport

RET (Official Page)

Haagse Trams incl. many photos

Haagse Tramnieuws Website of the Hague Tramway Friends

Haags Openbaar Vervoer Museum (Public Transport Museum)

Tramfoto.nl including many RandstadRail photos

UrbanRail.Net > Rotterdam Metro page

TRAMS 2022 - Dutch Yearbook about trams in Europe