The Zoetermeer stadslijn is a light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 connection 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...

 between 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...

 and Zoetermeer

Zoetermeer

Zoetermeer is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 37.06 km² . A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950...

.

History

Originally, the line was managed by the Dutch Railways (NS). Since June 2006 it has instead operated as a light-rail line, using tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

s. The lightrail connection is, together with the The Hague-Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 line, called the RandstadRail

RandstadRail

RandstadRail network in the southern part of the Randstad conurbation in the west of the Netherlands, connecting The Hague, Zoetermeer and Rotterdam, consists of a metro-like line between The Hague and Rotterdam and two light rail lines between The Hague and Zoetermeer...

.

Extra track

After the Oosterheem

Oosterheem

Oosterheem is one of the districts of Zoetermeer.It lies in the north-east, near Benthuizen. There is a lot of building going on, and it's one of the most recent districts of Zoetermeer....

 neighbourhood was built in Zoetermeer, an extra length of track added. It does not take the round line like the other routes, instead splitting off between the Seghweart and Leidsewallen stations.

Two lines

Since the extra Oosterheem line is added, there are two lines at the Zoetermeer Stadslijn, called line 3 and line 4. Line 3 uses the older track and line 4, called the Oosterheem line, takes the newer fork.

Line 3

Line 3 takes the old track and makes a lap. At Centrum West

Centrum West RandstadRail station

Centrum West is a RandstadRail station in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands.-History:The station opened, as a railway station, on 22 May 1977 as part of the Zoetermeerlijn, operating Zoetermeer Stadslijn services...

, it turns and goes back over the whole track to Den Haag Centraal Station.

Route

The route starts at Den Haag Centraal Station and goes through Voorburg

Voorburg

Voorburg is a Dutch town and former municipality in the western part of the province of South Holland, the Netherlands. As also Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it is part of the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has approximately 39,000 inhabitants....

 and Leidschendam

Leidschendam

Leidschendam is a town and former municipality in the province of South Holland of the Netherlands. Along with Voorburg and Stompwijk, it is part of the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg.- History :...

. Then it enters Zoetermeer at station Voorweg Laag.

• Voorweg Laag
• Centrum West (bus station)
• Stadhuis
• Palenstein
• Seghwaert
• Leidsewallen
• De Leyens
• Buytenwegh
• Voorweg Hoog
• Meerzicht
• Driemanspolder (NS station Zoetermeer)
• Delftsewallen
• Dorp
• Centrum West (bus station)

Here is the end of the line. The vehicle turns around and drives the route back to The Hague Centraal Station.

Line 4

Line 4 drives the same route as line 3, until after station Seghwaert. Here it splits off and goes into the Oosterheem neighbourhood.

Route

The route starts at Den Haag Centraal Station and goes through Voorburg and Leidschendam. Then it enters Zoetermeer at station Voorweg Laag, just like line 3.

• Voorweg Laag
• Centrum West (bus station)
• Stadhuis
• Palenstein
• Seghwaert
• Willem Dreeslaan
• Oosterheem
• Javalaan

This is the end of the track for now.

Future

There are future plans to make the fork into Oosterheem longer. The line would go to a big train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 which not exist now, called Bleizo, that will be a station for Zoetermeer and Bleiswijk

Bleiswijk

Bleiswijk is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 10,222 in 2006, and covered an area of 21.96 km² of which 0.83 km² is water...

. There will be a station then. There are also bigger plans then to connect that to Rokkeveen, a big neighbourhood in Zoetermeer which doesn't have a RandstadRail station now.