Rotterdam has an extensive public transport network consisting of the metro, its own tram system, buses, trains, water buses, and international ferries.
In Rotterdam, public transport services are provided by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (national train services), Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET, Rotterdam Electric Tram; tram, city bus, metro, RandstadRail and ferry services in Rotterdam and surrounding cities). Arriva Netherlands, Connexxion, Qbuzz and Veolia all provide private regional bus services.
In 1968, Rotterdam was the first Dutch city to open a metro system. The metro system consists of three main lines, each of which has its own variants. The metro network has of rail tracks, and there are 70 stations, which makes it the biggest of the Benelux. 5 lines operate the system: 3 lines (A, B and C) on the eastâÂÂwest line and two (D and E) on the northâÂÂsouth line. Line E (RandstadRail) connects Rotterdam with The Hague as of December 2011.
The Rotterdam tramway network offers 9 regular tram lines and 4 special tram lines with a total length of .
The following two tramlines are seasonal lines or special lines:
The RandstadRail network consists of four routes: one metro line (E) between The Hague and Rotterdam, and three tram-train lines (3, 4 and 34) between The Hague and Zoetermeer. Line E is operated by RET and uses high-floor Flexity Swift vehicles, while lines 3, 4 and 34 are operated by HTM and use low-floor RegioCitadis vehicles. Stations that are served by both types of carriages have extended platforms with a higher and a lower part.
Rotterdam offers 55 city bus lines with a total length of .
RET runs buses in the city of Rotterdam and surrounding places like Barendrecht, Ridderkerk, Rhoon, Poortugaal, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Delft and Capelle aan den IJssel.
Arriva Netherlands, Connexxion, Qbuzz and Veolia run buses from other cities to Rotterdam. An automated bus service, ParkShuttle, runs between Kralingse Zoom metro station and the Rivium Business Park in Capelle aan den IJssel.
The Waterbus network consists of seven lines. The mainline (Line 20) stretches from Rotterdam to Dordrecht. The ferry carries about 130 passengers, and there is space for 60 bicycles. The stops between Rotterdam and Dordrecht are:
There are several motorways to/from Rotterdam. The following four are part of its 'Ring' (ring road):
The following two other motorways also serve Rotterdam:
Rotterdam The Hague Airport (formerly Rotterdam Airport, Vliegveld Zestienhoven in Dutch) is an international airport serving Rotterdam, the Netherlands' second largest city, and The Hague, its administrative and royal capital. Located north northwest of Rotterdam, it is the third busiest airport in the Netherlands.
The airport handled over 2.1 million passengers in 2019 and features scheduled flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations. It is also used extensively by general aviation and there are several flying clubs, a skydiving club and a flight training school located at the airport.
Rotterdam is well connected to the Dutch railway network and has several international connections. Direct international services are available to Belgium, France and the UK via the high-speed train system Eurostar. The launch of services to the UK was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Traveling to the South, passengers can reach Dordrecht, Breda, Eindhoven, Flushing (Vlissingen) and with international connections, Antwerp, Brussels and Paris can be reached. To the west, a metro line operates to Hook of Holland since 2019.
To the north and northwest, passengers can connect to The Hague, Leiden, Amsterdam and Schiphol using high-speed rail, Utrecht and further. A fifth alternative train system to The Hague, the Hofplein Line was converted to the light rail system RandstadRail in 2006. The city is often mentioned as the terminus of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
Night services every hour every day of the week are available connecting Rotterdam to Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Schiphol, Amsterdam, and, with a detour, Utrecht. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays night, services are also available to Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Tilburg and Roosendaal.
P&O Ferries has daily sailings from Europoort to Kingston upon Hull in the UK. From the nearby Hoek van Holland (adjacent to the of Port of Rotterdam), Stena Line sails daily to Harwich in the UK.
Rotterdam is also home to the largest seaport in Europe and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia. Located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands, from 1962 until 2004, it was the world's busiest port by annual cargo tonnage. In 2020, Rotterdam was the world's tenth-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled. In 2017, Rotterdam was also the world's tenth-largest cargo port in terms of annual cargo tonnage.
Covering , the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of . It consists of the city centre's historic harbour area, including Delfshaven; the Maashaven/Rijnhaven/Feijenoord complex; the harbours around Nieuw-Mathenesse; Waalhaven; Vondelingenplaat; Eemhaven; Botlek; Europoort, situated along the Calandkanaal, Nieuwe Waterweg and Scheur (the latter two being continuations of the Nieuwe Maas); and the reclaimed Maasvlakte area, which projects into the North Sea. The Port of Rotterdam is located in the middle of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Rotterdam has five port concessions (ports) within its boundariesâÂÂoperated by separate companies under the overall authority of Rotterdam.
The Foundation RoMeO (Rotterdam Public Transport Museum and Exploitation of Oldtimers) was founded in 1997 to bring together various historical transport collections into one collection. Currently, the joint collection consists of more than sixty trams, twenty buses and an underground metro dating from 1967. Since 2010, the Rotterdam Public Transport Museum has been housed in the monumental tram depot Hillegersberg from 1923.