This year marks the first-ever presentation of the NS award: The most beautiful train station in the Netherlands. Passengers have been able to vote for their favourite station amongst the eight that were nominated since the end of July.
In total, more than 10.000 people voted for the award. The stations nominated were Amsterdam Amstel, Amsterdam Central, The Hague Hollands Spoor, Groningen, Valkenburg, Eindhoven, Utrecht Central and Rotterdam Central. And the winner, with more than 33 percent of the votes is the gorgeous Groningen! This northern beauty likely owes the win to its fantastic ceiling and small museum.
The runner-up, with 16 percent of the votes is the historical station, Valkenburg. Rotterdam Central, Amsterdam Central and Utrecht Central follow in third, fourth and fifth place, having received 14 percent, 11 percent and 9 percent of the votes respectively.
But what does Groningen station actually win? Well, the station receives a special plaque with the text “Mooiste station van Nederland 2019” (Most beautiful station in the Netherlands) on it.
The idea for the award came from Gerjan Vasse, social media manager at NS. According to Gerjan, stations are more than just places you run in and out to catch trains. He feels that people should focus less on their phones and take a moment to appreciate the unusual and, sometimes, historical aspects stations have to offer.
NS stations are obviously still relevant amongst passengers if this vote is anything to go by, and because of this, NS is considering making the award an annual thing.