Draft:Amsterdam tram line 13

Tram line 13 is a tram line in Amsterdam on the route Central Station – Rozengracht – Mercatorplein – Geuzenveld ( Lambertus Zijlplein ).

History
Line 13 was initially established in 1906, though the line ran a completely different route. The original route was from the Central station to the Parallelweg via Kadijksplein and Kattenburgerplein. In 1908 the line was extended to the Dam.

The first major extension to the west was completed in 1921, when line 13 started running via Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal – Raadhuisstraat – Rozengracht – De Clercqstraat – Bilderdijkstraat to Bellamyplein. In 1922, that terminus was abandoned and a new route was taken via the Frederik Hendrikstraat to the Frederik Hendrikplantsoen. In 1927, the extension via De Clercqstraat, Admiraal de Ruijterweg – Jan Evertsenstraat to Mercatorplein was put into use, with the route between Bilderdijkstraat and Krommert, now as a three-rail track , being run jointly with the NZH (Noord-Zuid-Hollandsche Stoomtramweg-Maatschappij). On the western route there was a reinforcement service, first line 13S and later line 19.

From 1932, the (original) line section east of Central Station was split off and continued as line 19. Since then, line 13 has been running from Central Station to Mercatorplein.

Afterwards, several extensions to the west were made, starting in 1950, via the Hoofdweg to the Bos en Lommerplein and then in 1954 via the Bos en Lommerweg – Burgemeester De Vlugtlaan – Slotermeerlaan to Slotermeer. This deviates from the original (pre-war) plan to extend the line from the intersection Burgemeester De Vlugtlaan / Slotermeerlaan to the roundabout at Antony Moddermanstraat.

From November 19, 1956 to June 4, 1967, a reinforcement line 13S ran between Bos en Lommerplein and Central Station during rush hours. In addition, from January 31, 1956 to October 18, 1965, additional buses also ran under route number 13S, which departed in the morning rush hour from the roundabout at Antony Moddermanstraat and then picked up passengers from line 13 as far as Mercatorplein and then only stopped for people getting off at Bilderdijkstraat, Gravenstraat and Central Station. The opposite happened during the afternoon rush hour. During the morning rush hour, several journeys departed from the terminus of line 21 in Geuzenveld until the arrival of line 20 on September 22, 1958. In the opposite direction, a number of buses drove nonstop via the shortest route back to the starting point.

On October 12, 1974, the Slotermeer terminus was abandoned and the extension via Burgemeester Röellstraat to Lambertus Zijlplein in Geuzenveld came into use. The end point was on a dike and could be reached by stairs from ground level. This was the first extension of a tram line in Amsterdam since 1962. In contrast to the route to Osdorp, it had field tracks on concrete sleepers in a gravel bed and overhead lines with chain suspension. This had never been applied in Amsterdam before. In the beginning, the final loop was far too narrow and derailments occurred regularly. Re-tracking was a difficult job in the sandy plain that was still present at that time. After widening the track body, a wider final loop could be constructed in 1976.

In 1989, the route between Mercatorplein and Slotermeerlaan was moved via the shorter route called the 3 Jannen ( Jan Evertsenstraat – Jan Tooropstraat – Jan van Galenstraat ) and the eastern part of the Burgemeester Röellstraat. This replaced the route of bus lines 19 and 47 by the tram. The route on the Hoofdweg left by line 13 was now served by tram line 7 and the Burgemeester de Vlugtlaan and Slotermeerlaan by tram line 14.

In May 1997, line 13 had a transfer stop added at Jan van Galenstraat on the newly opened metro line 50. The nearby Burgemeester Van de Pollstraat stop was therefore closed.

From September 2000 to September 2001, line 13 ran again to the Sloterparkbad in connection with reconstruction work on Lambertus Zijlplein, where the dike body was excavated and the terminus was located at ground level.

In April 2002, the new Combino trams were the first to be deployed on line 13 by the GVB.

In the summer of 2010, single track operation was temporarily implemented between Slotermeerlaan and Burgemeester van Leeuwenlaan due to track renewal. The field track was now replaced by groove track in grass. For this purpose, overlay switches with light signal protection were used. This was the first time that this system was applied in Amsterdam.

In 2023, the western part of Burgemeester Röellstraat was narrowed and the tram track was moved further south, so that the bend in the track could be removed after Burgemeester van Leeuwenlaan. The field track was replaced by grooved rails.