The Elst–Dordrecht railway is a railway line in 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...

 running from Elst to Dordrecht

Dordrecht

Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...

, passing through Tiel

Tiel

' is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands.The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river on the south and the north side, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal on the east side. The city was founded in the 5th century AD....

, Geldermalsen

Geldermalsen

Geldermalsen is a municipality and a town in the western Netherlands. The municipality of Geldermalsen was formed on the 1st of January 1978 when former municipalities Beesd, Buurmalsen, Deil and Geldermalsen were joined. The new municipality with approximately 10.173 hectares is one of the...

 and Gorinchem

Gorinchem

Gorinchem , also called Gorkum , is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.99 km² of which 3.03 km² is water...

. It is also called the Betuwelijn ("Betuwe

Betuwe

The Betuwe is an area in the Netherlands in the province of Gelderland...

" line) or Merwede-Lingelijn ("Merwede

Merwede

The Merwede is the name of several interconnected stretches of river in The Netherlands, all part of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. The Meuse river joins the Waal at Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede...

-Linge

Linge

Linge is a river in the Betuwe that is over 100 km long, which makes it one of the longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands.It starts near the village Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that if there will be no more pigs grazing at the castle of Doornenburg, the...

 line") in Dutch. It is operated by Arriva, Syntus

Syntus

Syntus bv is a public transport company operating bus and passenger train services in the east of the Netherlands. It is owned jointly by NS Reizigers and Keolis...

 and 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...

.

Timeline

• 1 November 1882 - Railway line opens between Elst and Geldermalsen
• 1 December 1883 - Railway line opens between Geldermalsen and Gorinchem
• 16 July 1885 - Railway line opens between Gorinchem and Dordrecht
• 15 May 1927 - Giessen-Oudekerk station closes
• 15 May 1938 - Arkel station closes
• 10 June 1940 - Arkel station re-opens
• 2 June 1957 - Hardinxveld-Giessendam station opens
• 27 May 1990 - Dordrecht Stadspolders station opens
• 1992 - Line is electrified
• December 2006 - Arriva wins contract to operate the service
• December 2006 - A half hourly service operates 7 days a week, starting earlier and finishing later. Improved connection times at Dordrecht for Rotterdam, Den Haag and Amsterdam and at Geldermalsen for Utrecht
• 14 September 2008 - New Spurt material is put into service on the line

Future

In the future there are plans for several new stations. They are planned to open in 2011.

These are:

• Sliedrecht Baanhoek
  Sliedrecht Baanhoek railway station
  Sliedrecht Baanhoek is a planned railway station, in Sliedrecht, The Netherlands.-History:The station is set to open in 2011. The station lies on the Merwede-Lingelijn and is located between Dordrecht Stadspolders and Sliedrecht. The station is primarily for western Sliedrecht and small...
  
   (Between Dordrecht Stadspolders and Sliedrecht)
• Giessendam West
  Giessendam West railway station
  Giessendam Blauwe Zoom is a planned railway station, in Giessendam, The Netherlands.-History:The station is set to open in 2011. The station lies on the Merwede-Lingelijn and is located between Sliedrecht and Hardinxveld-Giessendam...
  
   (Between Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Gorinchem)
• Boven-Hardinxveld
  Boven-Hardinxveld railway station
  Boven-Hardinxveld is a planned railway station, in Boven-Hardinxveld, The Netherlands.-History:The station is set to open in 2011. The station lies on the Merwede-Lingelijn and is located between Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Gorinchem.The station is primarily for Hardinxveld and small settlements in...
  
   (Between Hardinxveld-Giessendam and Gorinchem)
• Gorinchem Papland
  Gorinchem Papland railway station
  Gorinchem Papland is a planned railway station, in Gorinchem, The Netherlands.-History:The station is set to open in 2011. The station lies on the Merwede-Lingelijn and is located between Gorinchem and Arkel. The station is primarily for northern Gorinchem, where there is an industrial estate and...
  
   (Between Gorinchem and Arkel)
• Leerdam West
  Leerdam West railway station
  Leerdam West is a planned railway station, in Leerdam, The Netherlands.-History:The station is set to open in 2011. The station lies on the Merwede-Lingelijn and is located between Arkel and Leerdam. The station is primarily for western Leerdam and small settlements in the area. It is still...
  
   (Between Leerdam and Beesd)

A quarter hourly service between Gorinchem and Dordrecht is planned, by building passing loops at Dordrecht Stadspolders and Boven-Hardinxveld.

Train services

The current train services operating on the Merwede-Lingelijn are:

Series	Train type	Route	Material	Notes
32500	Arriva stoptrein	Dordrecht Dordrecht railway station Dordrecht is a railway station in Dordrecht, the Netherlands located on the Breda–Rotterdam railway and the Elst–Dordrecht railway. The station was opened on 1 January 1872, when the railway line between Rotterdam and Antwerp was opened. On 16 July 1885, the railway line from Dordrecht to...  - Dordrecht Stadspolders Dordrecht Stadspolders railway station Dordrecht Stadspolders is a railway station in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. The station is located on the Arriva line between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen . It was opened on 27 May 1990, the station has a single track. Arriva has operated the service since December 2006...  - Sliedrecht Sliedrecht railway station Sliedrecht is a railway station in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands. The station is located on the Arriva line between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen . It was opened on 16 July 1885, the station has a single track. Next to the passenger track is the Betuweroute freight railway line. Arriva has operated the...  - Hardinxveld-Giessendam Hardinxveld-Giessendam railway station Hardinxveld-Giessendam is a railway station for Hardinxveld and Giessendam in the Netherlands. It is located on the Elst–Dordrecht railway, between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen.-History:...  - Gorinchem Gorinchem railway station Gorinchem is a railway station in the town of Gorinchem, the Netherlands. It is on the Elst–Dordrecht railway. It was opened on 1 December 1883. It is located on the Arriva railway line from Dordrecht to Geldermalsen....  - Arkel Arkel railway station Arkel is a railway station, located in Arkel in the Netherlands. The station is located on the Arriva line between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen. It was opened on 1 December 1883, was closed on 15 May 1938 and was reopened on 10 June 1940. Originally, Arkel had two tracks, in the 1980s this was...  - Leerdam Leerdam railway station The railway station of Leerdam in the Netherlands is located on the Elst–Dordrecht railway line between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen. The railway station was opened on December 1, 1883....  - Beesd Beesd railway station Beesd is a railway station in Beesd in the Netherlands. The station opened on 01 December 1883. It lies about 2 km north of Beesd itself. The station is located on the railway line between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen...  - Geldermalsen Geldermalsen railway station Geldermalsen is a railway station in the town of Geldermalsen, the Netherlands. The station opened in 1868, the station is a junction station, with an island platform so that changing was easy. To reach the platforms from the station building you have to use the tunnel or bridge.The current...	Spurt (Stadler GTW)