Caring for national and cultural railway heritage

Together with ProRail, NS manages the stations in the Netherlands. 31 station buildings have been granted status as municipal, provincial or national monuments. The recently restored Royal Waiting Rooms in Amsterdam, Den Haag HS and Baarn are particular gems.

In the previous century, the Dutch royal family also made use of the services that the railways had to offer. They had royal carriages and in several stations they had their own entrance and several so-called royal chambers, where they waited to depart or waited for foreign guests to arrive. This complex of chambers was called the Royal Waiting Rooms.

Waiting rooms in the Netherlands

For a long time, The Hague had two Royal Waiting Rooms: one in Hollands Spoor station and one in Staatsspoor station (present-day Den Haag Centraal). The entire interior of this station, which was demolished in 1976, is on display at the Railway Museum in Utrecht. Other stations with Royal Waiting Rooms were Apeldoorn, Baarn, Vlissingen and Amsterdam. The waiting rooms in Den Haag Hollands Spoor (HS), Baarn and Amsterdam have been restored over the past 10 years.

Digital viewing

For a long time the Royal Waiting Rooms were not visible to the public. We have provided the opportunity to digitally view this beautifully decorated part of our cultural heritage. You can use the free app 'koninklijke wachtkamers' to view every detail of the royal pavilions in Amsterdam Centraal and Den Haag Hollands Spoor stations. People with impaired vision or hearing can also virtually visit these rooms.