Has a spaceship landed? No, it's Arnhem Centraal | Arnhem to Zwolle with NS InterCity

It seems Dutch stations are built to surprise and the interior of the new Arnhem Centraal certainly has a strange organic feel to it... that is, if the thing that grew was a huge silver coloured alien tree.
Join me on the hour-long run from Arnhem to Zwolle as the line traces the route of the IJssel as it flows slowly to the sea.
Departure: Arnhem, The Netherlands
Destination: Zwolle, The Netherlands
Operator: NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen)
Date of Travel: December 2023
Total Distance: 75 km / 47 miles
On train duration: 1 hr
Average speed: 75 km/h 47 mph
Motive power: NS VIRM electric multiple unit (1994-2009)
Example Costs:
+ First Class single €27,37 / £23.40
+ Second class single €16,10 / £13.80
+ I was travelling with a 1st Class Interrail 10 days in 2 months ticket
Thank you to everyone that supports the channel by subscribing, liking, commenting or just watching these videos. I really appreciate it!

[@vidkopf10]

I’m closely following and thoroughly enjoying this trip! The fact that you looked into how an ineffective method of washing the trains causes the upper windows to quickly become dirty again, exemplifies your persnickety attention to detail that I find charming! And Arnhem Centraal is incredible! Thank you for so many lingering architectural views!

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

You are very welcome. Pernickety and pedantic surely has a home here - both from me and any comments people care to make! Thanks for enjoying the architecture as much as I do 👍

[@horsehollerer]

Wow, Arnhem is another beauty. Many thanks.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

I'm pleased you are enjoying the architecture as much as me. Lots more in the weeks to come 👍

[@sandiandgregh]

What a station! Love the wood in the ceilings. An incredible design.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Yes, I had a great time there for sure. The night before I wandered through just to have an other look, even though I wasn't actually travelling!

[@RichardRenes]

Arnhem is old too... it is first mentioned in 10th century documents... It's just that not much is left of old Arnhem due to the fighting in WW2. Both Zutphen as wel as Deventer are very nice towns to wonder around in. Both with a very rich history.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks for the tips. I did get the feeling that due to its position Arnhem suffered a lot of destruction in WW2. Thanks for watching 👍

[@ztmsl]

Thank you for visiting 'my' country The Netherlands, welcome! How lovely you went of the beaten route via Arnhem and Zwolle. Dutch Railways trains have a tendency to have a dirty exterior in the winter, lately increasingly so due the staff shortage. Quite annoying. Talking about tickets: I myself enjoy Weekend Vrij, the monthly season ticket for € 34,95, offering unlimited travel on all regular train operators between Friday 18:30 and Monday 04:00. A mere €4.20 per weekend day. Also you can offer three accompanying friends 40% discount on regular tickets. For only € 9 extra you get first class. Add to that that a Museum Card is only € -60-75 a year, valid in nearly all museum small and large... My weekends are filled 🙂

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Wow that is a handy ticket! Thanks for all that information 👍 And thank you for watching too 👍

[@chielmeiberg]

Just a quick note: the train between Arnhem and Zwolle is classified as an IC service, not a regional service, it also uses IC rolling stock (which is good as it is a long run that train takes! From Roosendaal-Zwolle and back) although it stops at all stations on some parts of the route as it is the only train there

[@chielmeiberg]

Also, welcome to my home town! Another point: technically Blauwnet is not a concession area, it is a combination of multiple, operated by multiple operators! (Zwolle-Enschede and Zwolle-Kampen are operated by SNCF subsidiary Keolis, while Zwolle-Emmen, Hardenberg-Almelo and Oldenzaal-Zutphen are operated by DB subsidiary Arriva)

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

@@chielmeiberg very nice to visit. Excellent place! And yes, you are right. It is IC. I suppose it just feels like a regional train! Thanks so much for watching and adding all your local knowledge 👍

[@katashworth41]

The recent videos have reminded me to suggest another KZbin channel, which is Jet Lag The Game. They have a couple of series playing tag across Europe and there’s a lot of great train content. They’ve also done a series in Japan where almost all of the travel was on trains.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks - I'll go take a look. Thank you so much for watching mine too 👍

[@PaulGodfrey]

Loving the travels around Europe and the amazing station architecture

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks, you are very welcome. Lots more architecture coming up in the next few weeks. 👍

[@gravellegb]

I think the pianist was playing the Pachelbel Canon in D.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

I think you are correct! Thanks for watching 👍

[@Thomas_TdK]

Arnhem looks nice but is leaks when a few drops of rain fall. And your not dry under the canopy because they also leak end are to narrow.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe what we say "style over substance"?

[@Thomas_TdK]

@@JohnnyHooverTravelswell it is a bad sign if nobody want’s to build it for the money you offer and the first builder went bankrupt

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

@@Thomas_TdK hmm yes - that doesn't sound a great story..

[@dykam]

An additional oddity, it ended up being a ship builder which built the roof, yet it is leaky.

[@Sim0nTrains]

Nice little journey, great video

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks Simon 👍

[@kevincollis2632]

Spot on JH

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks Kevin 👍

[@Kulla1berg]

Arnhem as you mention in the video is famous for the “ one bridge too much” Looking forward to next video

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks! 👍

[@Lilygirl283]

It is called" a bridge too far"..

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

@@Lilygirl283 indeed it is. But i think we can give people a bit of latitude in the comments. There's lots of non native English speakers and, to be quite honest, I'm the one that is usually making the mistakes and mashing someone else's language! Best wishes to you and thanks for following channel 👍

[@colinriley123]

Good viewing and Arnhem is a spectacular building, but I found, for me, it lacked that sense of direction a good station has. A bit like Birmingham New street where I never know where to go.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Interesting comment. Maybe that is a reflection more of my video than of the architecture. There are a number of entrances, so maybe if I had come in by a different one it would have felt better. Now you mention it though, there were very few signs, so you did have to take your clues from the flow if the building. ...and yes. New St, with its coloured zones and seemingly extra ticket barriers is a bit of a pain.

[@jochemjonker3362]

Thanks for this video,starting in my home town Arnhem. The hotel where you stayed,is called "Haarhuis" locally, located at the corner of Stationsplein and Nieuwe Plein(square).The new station is to design and atmossphere,a great place,allthough it took a very long time to realise and finish this building(around 12 years). On your trip to Zwolle,you forgot mentioning station Dieren.From Dieren to Apeldoorn,there is a touristic train,which are driven by old steam locomotivs,but not on a daily base.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thanks for all that extra information. I was very pleased to visit your home town and yes, some other people I met have said just how long it took to complete the construction! Thanks for the tip about Dieren to Apeldoorn. I shall add that to my list of possible trips 👍

[@melaniedrogr951]

virms are roughly 30 years old, not sure i would call them modern.

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

I think that's a fair point actually. So maybe I should forgive them their aches and pains after so many years service. Thank you so much for watching 👍

[@MrJimheeren]

Well the DDZ is a lot older and in my humble opinion the Virm still looks good till this very day

[@WINGSANDRAILS]

It's strange that at this 1st class design is no baggage option in the cabin

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Yes, it is odd. I suppose if you have luggage, you use the lower saloon. Thanks for watching another 👍

[@dykam]

The trains are optimized for busy rush-hour use. Except for a specific few lines, the amount of people traffic with large baggage is very low. And those usually travel outside rush hour, when you can leave your baggage wherever.

[@LeafHuntress]

As you mentioned not knowing it in both this video & another one; Zwolle is a city. In the Netherlands all municipalities are *only* municipal by law, so there's no village/town/city status. But from around the middle ages till the French time cities got their city rights. Those cities are still _very_ proud of that. See for instance some tiny place in the province of Frisia with hardly any inhabitants that calls itself city. Just like some hamlets in the UK. Now pedantic people(who me?) will claim that the granting of city papers only counts _before_ the French era. So 's-Gravenhage(Den Haag/The Hague) doesn't count & is still technically a village. Zwolle is not just a city, it's a provincial capital. As well as together with Kampen & Elburg & Harderwijk & Deventer & Zutphen a Hanseatic city. This league was incredibly powerful & lucrative. Unfortunately the IJssel river sanded & ships couldn't reach the cities as easily. Also the League fought some wars. Both of this meant that the once thriving cities became poorer & the buildings weren't "updated" as much by their owners, which gives that "frozen in time" look. When Zwolle became more prosperous again, with the coming of the railways, they built new big 1800s mansions, but a lot of the older buildings were more or less given protected status. Elburg is even more so, just look at it on the map!!!

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Thank you that is all very interesting and in no way pedantic! Enjoyed reading a little more of the history of these places 👍 And thank you too for watching 👍