Randstad Spoor
Trains in the City
Trains in the City
What happens when rail service in a large megalopolis receives the same treatment as a typical metro network? Suddenly the relationship between the city cores and surrounding villages becomes clear and the service on offer completely transparent.
The current rail map of the Netherlands produced by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen does not display the direct connections between stations, rather bunches all services together making it difficult to quickly gauge which trains goes where.
This map shows where every train, making which stops, travels. The 90 degree angles and the placement of the stations on a regimented grid makes the Randstad seem as structured on paper as it seems in real life. Though the distance between adjacent stations is kept set, the number of stops have a greater effect on travel time than the distance from beginning to end.
Focusing on the Randstad and showing continuing services with a small key and arrow place emphasis on the area with the greatest concentration of rail service and largest passenger numbers.