Amsterdam Zuid railway station

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Amsterdam Zuid is a railway station situated in the Zuidas ("south axis") area of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, formerly known as Amsterdam Zuid WTC.

It lies on the strategic rail route known as the Zuidtak ("south branch"), completed in 1999, and connecting Schiphol Airport railway station in the west to Weesp in the east by way of Duivendrecht. This route, bypassing the congested lines serving Amsterdam Centraal station, allows faster connections between the airport and cities in the north and east of the country (Groningen and Enschede, among others) as well destinations in Germany. The station, which is currently (2006) being extended, will play an increasingly important role from December 2006, when it will replace Amsterdam Centraal as the capital's main station for all direct trains to these destinations. It is also anticipated that Amsterdam Zuid will serve a number of the trains using the future HSL-Zuid and HSL-Oost (the southern and eastern high-speed lines).

Amsterdam Zuid's importance as a transport node was further increased when a new connection, the Utrechtboog ("Utrecht curve"), was opened at Duivendrecht in March 2006. This is a west to south-east chord connecting the Zuidtak to the main Amsterdam Centraal – Utrecht line and obviating the need for passengers travelling from Schiphol to Utrecht and onwards to Eindhoven, and vice versa, to change trains at Duivendrecht, where the lines cross. From December 2006, local train services will also use this connection.

Amsterdam Zuid is served by two lines of the Amsterdam Metro and the Tram line 5, and will be the southern terminus of the new North/South metro line currently under construction.