{"id":81145,"date":"2026-05-13T01:34:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/81145\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T01:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:34:31","slug":"dutch-city-the-hague-could-boast-new-international-train-links-by-2029","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/81145\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch city The Hague could boast new international train links by 2029"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authorities in The Hague have voted to approve a new train service that would see the Dutch destination recover its European intercity rail connectivity after a nine-year hiatus.<\/p>\n

The Hague may have a reputation as a somewhat dull political and administrative hub. It\u2019s the home of the Dutch government as well as the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and Europol. As Lonely Planet puts it, the Netherlands\u2019 third-largest city is viewed by some as \u201ca stately, regal place populated with bureaucrats and businesspeople.\u201d Even its name (Den Haag in Dutch), meaning \u201cthe enclosure\u201d, gives off a stuffy air.<\/p>\n

Yet, the outlet points out, The Hague\u2019s cultural scene, \u201canchored by the presence of the world-renowned Mauritshuis museum and Nederlands Dans Theater \u2026 is one of the most exciting in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time Out\u2019s UK news and features editor Ed Cunningham agrees, describing The Hague as boasting \u201ca casual, unshouty sort of cool,\u201d and highlighting its \u201cphenomenal bar scene and a lively Chinatown,\u201d as well as \u201ca thriving seaside resort district (Scheveningen) and world-leading music festivals (Rewire), bags of Dutch royal history and spectacular works of architecture (Spui, the Pastor Van Ars Church).\u201d<\/p>\n

The city also boasts modern culinary delights and is easily explored by tram and on foot. But getting there by public transport from anywhere but Amsterdam has been an issue since 2021, when a direct train service from Belgium\u2019s neighbouring capital, Brussels, was axed.<\/p>\n

Now, though, city councillors have unanimously given the green light to a \u201cNext Stop: Europe\u201d plan set out by engineering consultancy firm Berenschot. The blueprint, as a first step, would bring back the Brussels connection by a simple timetable adjustment on the Rotterdam line that they report could run viably every two hours, with immediate effect. This option would easily offer access to and from other beloved European capitals like\u00a0Berlin\u00a0and\u00a0Paris.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a9 Gemeente Den Haag<\/p>\n

A second development proposal would involve giving an open-access operator rights to develop a brand-new service by as soon as 2029, operated on the selected firm\u2019s own rolling stock, by their own staff. The demand, proponents say, is not in question, with market analysis undertaken in 2024 showing passenger numbers could double by 2040.<\/p>\n

The Hague\u2019s Mayor Jan van Zanen has hailed the potential rail connection as \u201cmore than just a train service \u2013 it\u2019s a link between people, ideas, and opportunities.\u201d Economically, the service could boost the local economy by between \u20ac10 million and \u20ac12 million, and for the environment and green campaigners, the proposal is a no-brainer too, saving up to 1,450 tonnes of road transport carbon emissions by 2030.<\/p>\n

Officials are hoping that the timeline for the project could be accelerated and defined, thanks to the Netherlands\u2019 Presidency of the EU Council in three years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities in The Hague have voted to approve a new train service that would see the Dutch destination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[211,210,43145,21512,2059,43142,43144,43143,43146,3713,2855,16770,9740,1197],"class_list":{"0":"post-81145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brussels","8":"tag-belgium","9":"tag-brussels","10":"tag-connectivity-by-international-train","11":"tag-cuisine","12":"tag-culture","13":"tag-den-haag","14":"tag-destination","15":"tag-is-it-worth-visiting","16":"tag-linked-to-brussels-and-paris-and-berlin-and-amsterdam","17":"tag-museums","18":"tag-parliament","19":"tag-rail-connection","20":"tag-the-hague","21":"tag-the-netherlands"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116564700174400013","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}