Opening The first section of the
Schiphollijn was opened on 20 December 1978 between
Schiphol and
Amsterdam Zuid. At the time, this section of railway was not connected to the rest of the Dutch railway network. This section of the
Schiphollijn features a -long tunnel, in which Schiphol railway station is located. When it was constructed, Schiphol was the only railway station in the Netherlands to be in-tunnel.
Extension The line was extended in both directions in 1981 to
Amsterdam RAI and
Leiden Centraal; new stations were opened at
Hoofddorp and
Nieuw-Vennep. In 1986, a connection to
Amsterdam Centraal was completed: the
Amsterdam–Schiphol railway. Stations were opened at
Amsterdam Lelylaan,
Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan and
Amsterdam Sloterdijk. Amsterdam De Vlugtlaan was closed in 2000, after the opening of the
Hemboog: a chord at Amsterdam Sloterdijk which connects Schiphol Airport and the city of
Zaandam. The line was completed in 1993 when the railway was extended to the town of
Weesp. This enabled direct connections to
Schiphol Airport from the eastern and northern
provinces of the Netherlands to Schiphol.
Duivendrecht station opened to provide a connection between the new line and the
Amsterdam–Arnhem railway. The most important stations on the line currently are: Leiden Centraal, Hoofddorp, Schiphol airport, Amsterdam Zuid, Duivendrecht and Weesp.