A station without trains

The Haarlemmermeerstation in Amsterdam-Zuid was built for the railway lines into the Haarlemmermeer polder. Passenger trains stopped running in 1950 and freight followed in 1972. Instead of losing the line, a group of enthusiasts proposed running historic electric trams on it, and on 20 September 1975, a hundred years after Amsterdam got its first trams, the Electrische Museumtramlijn Amsterdam opened. The station is now a national monument.

The first stretch was 1,200 metres long. The line reached the Jollenpad in 1979, the Kalfjeslaan in 1981, Amstelveen in 1983 and Bovenkerk in 1997. Today it runs about seven kilometres, much of it through the trees of the Amsterdamse Bos.

A restored museum tram in the green of Amsterdam-Zuid

Trams from all over Europe

The fleet is a rolling collection: trams from Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Groningen and beyond the border, built over the first sixty years of the twentieth century and kept running by volunteers who restore, drive and welcome passengers. On Sundays from April to October line 30 runs from the Haarlemmermeerstation to the Amsterdamse Bos and Amstelveen, and on selected days line 20 makes a half-hour city round from the Dam.

Your own tram

What most Amsterdammers do not know is that you can hire a tram. The line rents out its historic trams, and a historic bus, to companies, groups and private parties, on three standard routes through the city starting at the Haarlemmermeerstation, the Dam or ARTIS, on a custom route, or on the museum line itself. The trams are an official wedding location in both Amsterdam and Amstelveen: a registrar can marry a couple on board.

A tasting stop on one of our Culture on Rails programmes

We build what we call Culture on Rails around that tram: a private ride with stops along the way, a gallery, a historic house, a tasting at a place that is not on any map, an artist in their studio. The tram becomes a moving salon between the stops, with stories from a guide on board.

Practical

• Capacity: from about 20 to 63 seated guests per tram, depending on the vehicle; several trams can run together.

• Booking: at least 30 days ahead; volunteers drive and accompany every ride, which is why weekend availability is limited.

• Catering: drinks and snacks on board are possible; there are no tables, so a seated dinner is not.

• Combines well with: a salon boat back into the centre, or a walk through the Amsterdamse Bos.

Sources

• museumtramlijn.org, home page and rental page (routes, seasons, capacities, wedding location, booking terms).

• Wikipedia, Electrische Museumtramlijn Amsterdam and Haarlemmermeer station (history, monument status, extensions).

• Endless Minds programme description Culture on Rails.