Meerijden met de machinist van Amsterdam naar Rotterdam. (Met snelheidsmeter)

Looking over the shoulder of a train driver on the route from Amsterdam Central Station to Rotterdam Central Station. Today, May 20, 2025, we ride the Sprinter train from Amsterdam Central Station via Breukelen, Woerden, and Gouda to Rotterdam Central Station. This journey passes through the Green Heart of the Netherlands. This area can be described as the Holland-Utrecht Lowlands, and was formed over many centuries by the growth of a thick, wet peat layer. This marshy peatland was made suitable for agriculture, livestock farming, and peat extraction through drainage (poldering) during the Great Reclamation (900-1200 AD). In the Middle Ages, a ring of cities—Rotterdam, The Hague, Zoetermeer, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Utrecht—developed around the vast, water-rich peat meadow area. In the second half of the twentieth century, this area was given the name "the Green Heart," and the cities were called the Randstad. Want to see more videos from the train driver's cab across Europe? Then visit: https://bahntv.eu/