Groningen is the main railway station in Groningen, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. In Groningen, the station is also called Hoofdstation. The station opened on 1 June 1866 and is on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway

Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway

The Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from the port of Harlingen to Nieuweschans, passing through Leeuwarden and Groningen. The line was opened between 1863 and 1868. It is also known as the Staatslijn "B"...

. The first building was a temporary structure outside the former fortifications. In 1870, with the Meppel–Groningen railway

Meppel–Groningen railway

The Meppel–Groningen railway is an important railway line in the Netherlands running from Meppel to Groningen, passing through Hoogeveen and Assen. The line was opened in 1870...

, the station was connected with the central Netherlands. In 1884 the Groningen–Delfzijl railway opened, and in 1893 the connection to Roodeschool opened. The station building that still stands today was completed in 1896.

The station has nine platforms and behind the station is a stabling point for many trains. Groningen is now the furthest north Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...

 operate, with all services further north operated by Arriva

Arriva

Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

. Two free internet terminals can be found in the information centre by the main entrance/exit.

Major destinations

From Groningen you can directly travel to places such as:

Assen

Assen

Assen is a municipality and a city in the north eastern Netherlands, capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run...

, Zwolle

Zwolle

Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...

, Amersfoort

Amersfoort

Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the...

, Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, Gouda

Gouda

Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....

, The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

, Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

, Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol), Hoogeveen

Hoogeveen

Hoogeveen is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands.- Population centres :Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town...

, Leeuwarden, Roodeschool

Roodeschool

Roodeschool is a community situated in the northeast of Groningen province in the Netherlands and forming part of the municipality of Eemsmond...

, Delfzijl

Delfzijl

Delfzijl is a municipality and city in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is situated on the left bank of the river Ems estuary, which forms the border with Germany.-Population centres:...

, Winschoten

Winschoten

Winschoten is a former municipality and city in the northeast of the Netherlands.Population : 18.497; area: 22,24 km2.The origin of the name of Winschoten is not known but it has received nicknames. One of these is Molenstad . It has also been known, in living memory, as Sodom...

, Nieuweschans

Nieuweschans

Bad Nieuweschans is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Oldambt, about 12 km east of Winschoten. In April 2009 the municipality of Reiderland changed the name from Nieuweschans, to promote the town as a spa...

 and Leer

Leer

Leer is a town in the district of Leer, the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the river Ems, near the border with the Netherlands....

(Germany).

Train services

The following services call at Groningen:

• 1x per hour intercity service The Hague/Rotterdam - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Groningen
• 1x per hour intercity service Schiphol - Hilversum - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Groningen
• 1x per hour express service (sneltrein) Leeuwarden - Groningen
• 1x per hour local service (stoptrein) Zwolle - Assen - Groningen
• 1x per 2 hours local service (stoptrein) Groningen - Nieuweschans - Leer
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Leeuwarden - Groningen
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Groningen - Nieuweschans
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Groningen - Roodeschool
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Groningen - Delfzijl
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Groningen - Veendam