The Hague gets first hop-on hop-off tram in the Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – From this summer, The Hague can measure up to world famous coastal cities such as San Francisco, Melbourne and Lisbon. This is because The Tourist Tram, a new connection between the centre and the sea using historic trams, will be starting in June. Tourists will be able to use a ticket to hop on and off an unlimited number of times for one or more days. This means that The Hague offers a unique attraction – for the Netherlands.

The Tourist Tram is a typical Hague tram: cream-coloured with green stripes, just like the trams which used to ride through the city in the ‘50s. From 2016, the Tourist Tram will run every 30 minutes between 9.30 and 17.30 hrs. the entire week (including weekends and public holidays) during the summer period from the Hague city centre to Scheveningen beach. During the route past many tourist attractions and sights, visitors will be told everything about The Hague via an audio tour available in different languages.

Route

The Tourist Tram runs between the Hague city centre and Scheveningen beach. In total, the route has 16 stops where visitors can get on and off on the way. The route will connect the historic downtown area, the future Museum Quarter around Lange Voorhout, the Peace Palace and the Kurhaus and will head back through the International Zone and past the Gemeentemuseum. A day pass for unlimited travel will cost € 14.00 and a 2-day pass € 18.00. Children under the age of 12 years can travel 2 days for € 5.00.

Reliable schedule

The trams will be operated by The Hague’s public transportation company HTM. The departure times will be posted on the HTM timetables. An advantage of trams over buses is that they will be able to operate on schedule regardless of traffic conditions. Tourists will then easily be able to plan a trip to the beach or other tourist attraction.

Multi-language audio tour

Each seat in the Tourist Tram is provided with an audio tour explaining the sights along the route. The audio tour is available in eight different languages. Dutch, English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese and in the Hague dialect.

Tickets

With a day ticket, unlimited use can be made of the Hop-on Hop-off tram for the entire day. With a weekend ticket, this even applies to two days. Tickets can be purchased in the tram itself (cash, PIN and credit card), at the VVV The Hague and VVV Scheveningen and later on in 2016 also online. Besides the tram driver, every Tourist Tram has a host to welcome passengers on board, to answer questions, provide information and sell tickets.

Proposals

A total of 7 suppliers submitted a proposal for a hop-on hop-off service for The Hague. The basic principles were that they would offer a self-financing plan and a reliable schedule and that it would fit in with the character of the city. They were free to choose the means of transportation. The supplier with the best proposal would be eligible for a € 100,000 subsidy. The advisory committee unanimously chose the plan submitted by The Hague Public Transport Museum.