Trams in Amsterdam


The Amsterdam Tram is a tram network in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It dates back to 1875 and has been operated by municipal public transport operator Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf since 1943, which also runs the Amsterdam Metro and the city bus and ferry services. The Amsterdam Tram is the largest tram network in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe.
The trams on the network run on standard gauge track. Since 1900, they have been powered by electricity, at 600 V DC. At the terminus station of almost every tram line is a turning loop, so that the line can be operated by unidirectional trams. The only exception is Amstelveen Binnenhof, one of the termini of line 5, which must therefore be served by bidirectional vehicles., there are 15 tram lines. The network comprises a total of of route, and of track. The fleet consists of 200 trams, of which 24 are bidirectional for use on the loop-less line 5.

History

Beginnings

On 3 June 1875, Amsterdam's first horse-drawn tramway was opened. It linked Plantage with the Leidseplein, and was operated by AOM, which had been founded in 1872 by Karel Herman Schadd, amongst others.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, horse trams ran through the main streets of Amsterdam, linking all neighborhoods inside the Singel with Dam Square, and were extended to newly constructed residential areas. By the end of the century, about 15 lines led to or from the Vondelstraat, Overtoom, Willemsparkweg, Amsteldijk, Linnaeusstraat, Weesperzijde, Bilderdijkstraat and Ceintuurbaan.
The lines of the original horse tram lines can still clearly be recognised in the present day tram routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 13.

Gemeentetram

As of 1 January 1900, the municipality of Amsterdam took over AOM. The company continued as the Gemeentetram Amsterdam. A total of 242 tramcars, 758 horses and 15 buildings were acquired along with the company.
Between 1900 and 1906, all but one of the existing tram lines were electrified. Additionally, the AOM's unusual track gauge of was converted to standard gauge.
line were replaced by tram-hauling buses, such as this one in Jacob Marisstraat.
By 1906, the electric tram network consisted of 12 tram lines. To operate these lines, the GTA purchased 229 new electric tramcars. The former horse-drawn trams were progressively reclassified as tram trailers. In 1906, the Amsterdamse Tramharmonie orchestra was founded. This orchestra, composed of amateur musicians from the Amsterdam region, still exists.
The last remaining Amsterdam horse tramway was line 12, which was electrified in 1916. Five years later, upon Amsterdam's annexation of the municipality of Sloten, a former Sloten horse tramway came under the control of the GTA. The horses of this line, which linked Overtoom with Sloten, were replaced by tram-hauling buses in 1922; the line was converted into a conventional bus line in 1925.

Further developments

Between 1910 and 1930, the growth of the city generated many new extensions to the tram lines. The first thirteen electrified tram lines were joined by: line 14 in 1910, lines 15–18 in 1913, line 19 in 1916, lines 22 and 23 in 1921, line 20 in 1922, line 21 in 1928, line 24 in 1929 and line 25 in 1930.
In 1931, the tramway network reached its greatest extent, at 25 tram lines. From that year to 1940, all the districts in the city could be reached by tram. Between 1900 and 1930, the fleet grew to 445 motorised trams and approximately 350 trailers. These were all twin axle vehicles with wooden bodies.
From 1922 until 1971, all trams had mailboxes at their rear side. These were emptied at Centraal Station; the post office's distribution centre was located next to the station, at Stationsplein, and later at Oosterdokskade. Thanks to the tram mailboxes, a letter could be delivered on time, even if it is too late for the last collection from the regular mailboxes.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the tram service was reduced. In 1932, lines 12, 15, 19, 20 and 21 were abandoned. However, as part of the Eastern Railway Works in 1939-1942, trams came to the new neighborhoods in Amsterdam-Oost, to serve the Watergraafsmeer, the new Amstel station and the rebuilt Muiderpoort station.
On 1 January 1943, the GTA merged with the Gemeenteveren to form Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf.
Between 1940 and 1945, the trams carried big crowds and faced a crisis. Several lines had to be suspended, before the whole service ceased in October 1944 due to a coal shortage. Many tram cars were transported eastward.

Postwar period

Following the end of World War II, tram services were resumed in June 1945, initially with only limited service. Line 5 was split into line 5 and line 12. Some lines were returned to service in later years: lines 2, 17 and 18 and 4. Between 1945 and 1949, the emergency line 26 was the tram line with the highest line number, followed by line 11. In 1948 and 1949, a special tram S ran as an express service from line 25 to Amstel station.
Tram lines 6 and 23 did not return to regular service, but operated intermittently until 1958 for transportation to the stadium. Lines 8, 14 and 22, used during the war, were not reactivated as tram lines, although line 22 was revived in 1950 as a bus line.
Between 1948 and 1950, the GVB acquired sixty motorised trams and fifty trailers, known as the three axles. They were built by Werkspoor in Utrecht-Zuilen, and replaced the then oldest trams in the fleet, which had entered service in 1902.
After a period of reconstruction in the 1940s, one tram line after another was shut down in the 1950s. Buses were considered to be more practical. Thus, between 1950 and 1965 lines 18, 12, 11, 17 and 5 were replaced, in that order, by bus services. Only the Leidsestraat and Utrechtsestraat remained served by tram lines, which were necessary because these streets were too narrow for buses.

Revival

In the mid-1950s, tramcars came back into the spotlight. The 25 articulated trams ordered in 1955 to serve only the Leidsestraat lines 1 and 2 were well received, and secured the future of trams in Amsterdam. Between 1957 and 1968, 160 new articulated vehicles, manufactured by Beijnes and Werkspoor in the Netherlands, were added to the fleet; they were numbered 551-587 and 602-724. The old twin axle trams from the prewar period were withdrawn from service between 1945 and 1968.

Extensions

After the trams had returned to favour in the inner city, the newly created Western Garden Cities in the west of Amsterdam were connected with its tramway network: Bos en Lommerplein in 1950, Slotermeer in 1954, and Osdorp in 1962.
There were also some other new tram lines with line numbers that had long since disappeared or had never existed. Line 17, which was closed in 1956, was revived in 1962, came line 5, and in 1982, a new line 14 was opened, forty years after the lifting of the original line 14.
Other changes also occurred. In 1971, the tramway postal service was abandoned. In 1972-1973, the first group of articulated trams were extended by the addition of a middle section, to become bi-articulated trams. Also in the early 1970s, two series of new trams were ordered from Linke-Hofmann-Busch in Salzgitter, Germany, to operate the new western extensions. In 1974-1975, nos 725-779 entered the fleet, and in 1979-1981, nos 780-816 joined them.
By the early 1980s, the GVB had 252 bi-articulated trams available for use, at that time the highest number in any city in Europe. In 1983, after only 35 years - a short time for the Amsterdam tramway network - the three axle trams operated their last services; they had never been liked by the tram personnel. Between 1981 and 1983, the GVB also lost four other trams, when they were destroyed by fires started by rioting squatters.
Meanwhile, further western extensions of the network were opened, to Geuzenveld in 1974, Slotervaart-Zuid in 1975, Nieuw Sloten in 1991 and De Aker in 2001. Other enhancements were to: Station Zuid in 1978, Flevopark in 1980, Station RAI in 1981, Station Sloterdijk in 1982, and a second connection with Bos en Lommer/Slotermeer in 1989.
In 1985, a tram line was built to Haarlemmerhouttuinen, but not connected to other tracks, nor equipped with overhead wires. Thirty years later, it had still not entered into service.

New technology

In 1989-1991, to replace the oldest articulated trams, and to operate new lines, 45 articulated vehicles were built by BN in Bruges, Belgium. They were Amsterdam's first low-floor trams. During the same period came the first withdrawals of the first articulated trams from 1957, apart from a few vehicles that had previously had been damaged by fire or a collision. Additionally, a number of the 1974-1975 LHB vehicles were removed from service.
In 1990, a new tramway to Buitenveldert and Amstelveen was ready to go. Line 5 links Station Zuid with Amstelveen Binnenhof, while line 51 ran as a light rail service, from Station Zuid to Amstelveen Poortwachter, and later to Westwijk in 2004. Also in 1990, line 9 to the Watergraafsmeer was extended to Diemen. In 1991, a rush hour line 20 and a special events line 11 were opened. In 1993 a support line 11 and in 1997 a circle line 20 were added to the network. Lines 6, 11 and 20 have since disappeared. However, line 11 is still used occasionally for extra services to the RAI convention centre.
Between 2002 and 2004, following an order for 155 Siemens Combino trams, the existing tram fleet was largely renewed. Four of the Combinos were specified as bidirectional vehicles, for use on line 5 to Amstelveen. By mid-2004, 155 Combinos had been delivered. As a result, the last old articulated cars of the 1960s were removed from service in March 2004. However, between 2004 and 2008 all of the Combinos had to be taken progressively out of service for repairs and strengthening, to correct their many structural faults.

Changes 2001—2016

In December 2001, line 1 was extended to the new district of De Aker, and line 17 replaced line 1 on the route between Osdorpplein and Dijkgraafplein. For a lengthy period, line 24 is diverted via line 16, and line 25 is diverted via line 4, during construction of the Ceintuurbaan metro station at Ferdinand Bolstraat. In December 2002, line 6 was diverted to call at Centraal Station in place of the Stadionplein, and in November 2003, line 16 was extended from Stadionplein to the VU Medisch Centrum.
In May 2004, line 10 was extended/diverted to Java-eiland. Lines 7 and 14 have since been re-routed to Amsterdam-Oost. In December 2004, line 6 started sharing a terminus with line 16 at VU Medisch Centrum. Since that month, line 7 has been sharing the Sloterpark terminus of line 14; the former line's terminus had earlier moved to Surinameplein, because the turning loop at Bos and Lommerplein had been closed.
On 30 May 2005, a new line, the IJ-tram was opened and line 16 was extended from CS to the Passagiersterminal. Twelve months later, line 6 was closed, and the route CS–Passagiersterminal was taken over by line 25 from line 16. In December 2006, line 24 was extended from Olympiaweg to VU Medisch Centrum.
In October 2011, a new turning loop for line 16 and 24 was installed at the De Boelelaan/VU stop. It replaced the loop at Gustav Mahlerlaan, which was required to give way to a new building.
In December 2013, tram line 25 between Centraal Station and President Kennedylaan in the Rivierenbuurt neighbourhood was discontinued.
In May 2015, tram line 24 between Centraal Station and VU Medisch Centrum was temporarily discontinued. It has since been reinstated and line 16 ceased instead.

Changes since 2017

2017 changes related to the opening of the North-South subway line

When the new metro North–South line opened on 22 July 2018, the GVB's and Amsterdam "City Region" 's policy was that the metro use should be emphasized, that is, that travelers traveling across the city would, in general, be expected to take the metro more as part of their journey and transfer between the metro and trams and buses.
The new tram network thus consisted of 14 tram lines. Fewer trams ran on the lines between Centraal Station, the southern part of the city center and Amsterdam-Zuid borough. Meanwhile, more trams would run in the areas surrounding the city center. The route Leidseplein—Weteringschans–Sarphatistraat –Weesperplein became the busiest tram route portion with three lines serving it.
Lines 9, 10 and 16 were discontinued while lines 11 and 19 were reintroduced:
The routes of lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 12 and 14 were partially changed, while lines 2, 4, 13, 17, 24 and 26 remained unchanged. In a few streets no trams ran anymore, such as in Bos en Lommerweg, Mozes en Aäronstraat, Paleisstraat, or along Albert Cuypstraat–Ruysdaelstraat–Johannes Vermeerstraat–Gabriël Metsustraat–De Lairessestraat–Cornelis Krusemanstraat–Amstelveenseweg up to Stadionplein. Except for the Witte de Withstraat, where the removal of tram rails was the cause of the removal of line 7 to Postjesweg– Hoofdweg, the rails were kept in place in case of detours, trips to the tram shed or possible future route changes.

Other changes since 2017

In 2017 the line 24 track over a 140-metre section of Ferdinand Bolstraat was rebuilt as single-track. In the same year GVB started testing the use of coupled trams on line 26, with a view to introducing them into service in summer 2020.
In March 2018 work started to build an alternative turning circle for tram 26 on the IJ side of Centraal Station, for use when events such as the Dam tot Damloop block Stationsplein. It was completed in October 2019.
On 3 March 2019, the light rail line through Amstelveen closed to convert it into a new tram line to go into service as line 25 in 2021.
On May 27, 2019 a rush-hour tram line 6 was introduced between Amsterdam Zuid station and Amstelveen Centrum. Because metro line 51 was discontinued and because the replacement bus service between De Boelelaan/VU and Oranjebaan doesn't stop, line 5 became overcrowded.

Lines

Current lines

, the Amsterdam tramway network was made up of the following lines:
The numbers 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 27 have belonged to Amsterdam tram lines in the past, but now there are no tram lines with those numbers. A brief list of the disused lines and their outes:
Upon the electrification of the Amsterdam tramway network, all tram line were given a line number and a line colour. The latter designator is a square logo next to the line number, so that people who cannot read the line numbers can still recognise the line. The tram stop signs also display the line colours, as did the early twentieth century horse tram lines. Line colours have been used in other cities in the Netherlands, but outside Amsterdam the colours have since been removed.
The Amsterdam line colours consist of combinations of one or two colours. Not all colour combinations are permitted: for example, green-blue and yellow-white are not used, due to the lack of contrast. The square plane can be split horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
The belt lines 3, 7, 9 and 10 were given a line colour in one colour: yellow, blue, green and red, respectively. The radial lines usually had line colours divided into two. Later, new line colours divided into three fields were introduced. Lines 7 and 13 have different combinations again. Line 7 is blue, but for clarity two horizontal white stripes are added. Line 13 is white, but has a pattern of blue squares added. Line 22 was the only line using the colour pink.
Under the current system, there are 38 colour combinations. In the 1980s, never used combinations were assigned to the nonexistent lines 27, 28, 29 and 30 and to the metro line numbers 50 and 58. Today, the line colours are still used. They are located next to the line number on the front of the trams and light rail vehicles.

Headquarters and depots

The AOM's original headquarters was located at Stadhouderskade 2. In 1923, the GTA set up a new headquarters in the Amsterdam School style building at the corner of the Overtoom and Stadhouderskade 1. In 1983, the GVB moved to Scheepvaarthuis at Prins Hendrikkade 108. In 2004, the GVB moved again, to a modern office building at Arlandaweg 100, near Sloterdijk station.
For the operation of Amsterdam's trams, there are two main depots: Havenstraat, which was opened in 1914, and Lekstraat, built between 1927 and 1929 in Amsterdam School style. On 12 July 2010, the management of the two depots was merged. Lekstraat depot is now only used for storage, and the daily maintenance of all trams is now carried out at the Havenstraat depot.
Since May 2005, the tramway network has also had a yard at the Zeeburgereiland. This was built especially for line 26, partly because of lack of space in the Lekstraat depot, and partly to shorten turnaround times.
The main Amsterdam tram workshop has been based since 1996 in Diemen-Zuid. Previously, it had been housed from 1902 in Tollensstraat.

Rolling stock

Footnotes