RAILWAYS

Railways: translation

The Dutch railways system began with the railroad from Amsterdam to Haarlem in 1839. It was extended in the 1840s by a line to Utrecht. In 1860, a state-owned company took over the re sponsibility of railway construction from the private companies. The construction company Werkspoor, established in 1891, merged in 1954 with the engineering works of Stork (founded in 1868). The net work was rapidly extended; by 1990, its total length measured 2,828 kilometers (1,753 miles). During the 1990s, the state-owned railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) was privatized, although the enterprise, which has been running a loss since 1964, remains state subsidized. Currently some regional sections are operated by other companies, such as Arriva and Syntus.