RAI
5051- Opened
- 1 December 1990
- Level
- Elevated
- District
- Zuid
- lines
- 50 51
Where does the name come from?
The station is named after the nearby RAI complex, the RAI Amsterdam exhibition and convention centre.
The story
The glass station with a cat's head
The first RAI station opened on 31 May 1981 as the temporary terminus of the new railway to Schiphol and Leiden. It had one platform, one track and no signals. Passengers could change directly onto tram 4, which stood at a raised terminus beside the station.
That tram had to make way in 1988. To build the Amstelveen line, the tram stop was moved down to street level beneath the viaducts. The metro platform opened in 1990. Two years later a new railway station with an island platform was built to a design by architect Rob Steenhuis. It has transparent, curved glass walls and a 150-metre roof whose shape has been likened to a cat's head. The tracks are fully enclosed, sheltered from wind and rain. The metro platform got its own roof in 1997, when the Ring Line began calling here.
In 2015 the artwork Mise-en-scène was added to the walls, and on 10 August 2016 two additional railway tracks came into use. During major events at the RAI, such as the Huishoudbeurs home show, extra Intercity trains stop here.
During major shows at the RAI, such as the Huishoudbeurs, extra Intercity trains call at this station.
Comments
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