Posts Tagged With: HTM

Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree (Or: 2025 edition)

Posted on December 14, 2025 by Niki

Here’s a look at Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree for 2025:

The Christmas area on the third floor also had bears which ever so slightly moved.

I do like the use of colored lights this year. A lot of places in the Netherlands only have soft white lights. The gold symbols on the tree are pictures of a teddy bear, Bijenkorf shopping bag, and Christmas present. The longer rectangle one is the symbol for the Bijenkorf in Amsterdam. You can also buy it as a Christmas ornament…

That picture makes it seem like the store was fairly empty, but that was most definitely not the case. It was a bit of a madhouse, but the ornaments are a bit further in. This was near the beginning of the section, by the escalators.

In my last post I mentioned the Christmas tram. Unfortunately, it got into a (minor) accident the next day (omroepwest.nl), although it was back in service quickly. Accidents between trams and cars happens a lot. A bit more unexpected was the accident earlier this week when the switch which allows the tram to change tracks broke and shot through the floor of the tram, slightly injuring one of the passengers. A few pictures into the article you can see the damage to the floor. Crazy stuff.

Categories: Holidays, Shopping, Transportation | Tags: Bijenkorf, Christmas, HTM, trams | Leave a comment

Christmas tram in The Hague (With: A Santa hat)

Posted on December 9, 2025 by Niki

I recently saw the Christmas tram riding around in The Hague. It was the second time I have spotted it this year, but this time I was able to stop and take a picture.

Don’t you think the Santa hat on top is cute? Apparently it has 6,300 lights on it and it also plays Christmas music non-stop. Haha. (I wouldn’t mind, though. It isn’t like you are in the tram that long.)

You can check out ovzoeker.nl to see where the tram is riding. The URL looks for HTM tram #3109.

Also, if you are in The Hague, check out the Royal Christmas Fair, which is open on the Lange Voorhout until December 23.

Categories: Holidays, The Hague, Transportation | Tags: Christmas, HTM, trams | Leave a comment

Functional art (Or: Teddy bear by The Hague Central train station)

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Niki

Earlier this month a very large and lit up teddy bear was added to The Hague Central train station for the holidays:

It’s also functional – it provides a few places to sit by its legs, although it is hard to tell from this angle.

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: HTM, NS | Leave a comment

Food truck festivals (And: News from The Netherlands)

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Niki

Good news – the food truck festival Rrrollend is coming back for a special winter edition from March 1 to March 5 at the Lange Voorhout. Official website in Dutch. Indebuurt.nl (also in Dutch, it means “in the neighborhood” reports that the winter edition means they will be selling glühwein (mulled wine) and hot chocolate. Yum. Rrrollend will also be back in The Hague in Mid-May (at the Hofvijver) and in mid-August (at the Lange Voorhout).

Above is the shaved ice cream Marco and I enjoyed back in 2019.

In other news, The Hague’s public transportation company will stop selling HTM bicycles in The Hague on February 1 (official website in English) due to low demand. Most people use the NS train company’s bicycles instead. The bikes will be moved to Zoetermeer, a suburb of The Hague, where the demand for them is higher.

The cool event in Scheveningen is open for one more week (the last day is the 22nd). You can go ice skating or view ice sculptures. Official website in Dutch.

If you want to travel to Utrecht, you can also visit the I Light U light festival going on through January 29. The artwork is all in the neighborhood of the main train station. Official website in English.

And finally, we had some pretty strong winds last Thursday. Some planes were asked to use a runway at Schiphol airport that is not normally in use (the Oostbaan, or East runway) but one plane arriving from Detroit still managed to land the plane just short of the runway. Although to be honest I don’t know how much you would feel that as a passenger. See also dutchreview.com in English.

Categories: Food, Transportation | Tags: Food trucks, HTM, Winter | Leave a comment

Dutch typos (Or: Watch out for beers)

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Niki

In Dutch a bear is a beer (plural: beren).

Here is something I spotted at a local gift shop which I will not name:

Hmmm. You almost wonder if it is on purpose, but I don’t think so!

In other news:

Bioscopen draaien beste dag sinds begin coronacrisis from nos.nl (=Movie theatre has best day since the start of the corona crisis). Movie theatres were hit hard here. Even when they were not forced to completely close they still had to adhere to social distancing and have open seats between each group, or they weren’t allowed to sell refreshments, or they had to deal with a night curfew. But now since the new Jurassic World and Top Gun films have come out, and since Dr. Strange is still being shown in the theaters, the number of people going to the movie theatre is starting to (slowly) rise again.

HTM-chauffeurs staken volgende week opnieuw als ze geen toezeggingen krijgen from omroepwest.nl (=HTM drivers will strike again next week if they don’t get what they asked for). The article is actually from last Thursday, the day of the previous strike. HTM workers say they will go on strike again this Friday, June 10 if negotiations don’t go well before then.

Categories: Everyday purchases | Tags: HTM | 2 Comments

No transport for you (Or: Likely strike by HTM on Thursday, June 2)

Posted on May 25, 2022 by Niki

Last week workers by HTM (The Hague’s public transportation company in this area) announced that they would be going on strike on Thursday, June 2. Among other things, drivers are looking for 5% extra pay and a solution for too much work.

Staking bij HTM: binnenkort hele dag geen trams en bussen in Haagse regio at omroepwest.nl in Dutch (Strike at HTM – in the near future no trams or buses in The Hague region)

At first I thought there might be a chance that the the news came out early because they were hoping to bring attention to the situation while negotiations continue, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. On Google I found a page over at cnvvakmensen.nl (a trade union): Oproep tot staking 2 juni HTM. This page explains what HTM workers should do if they are working in the morning, or a later in the day, or a night shift into morning that day, and more. Even what they should do if they want to show solidarity but not strike (take a day off) or what they should do if they don’t want to strike (contact HTM and work their shift in the the garage as HTM has also said no buses or trams will ride if there is a strike).

So at the moment it looks like the strike will happen, although the news hasn’t really been broadcast widely on The Hague’s news sites or on htm.nl – yet.

Categories: Transportation | Tags: HTM, trams | Leave a comment

Naked tram rails (Or: A look at tram 16’s construction)

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Niki

This year the tram tracks for tram 16 are being re-done to allow for the new Avenio tram (htm.nl, in English). The Avenio tram is wider so almost the entire track needs to be re-done to accommodate this.

This area is not far from the Buitenhof / Hofvijfer / Dutch parliament. You can see the parliament buildings in the background on the right side. Due to the construction tram 16 is currently taking the route of tram 1 on its way to Statenkwartier. You can read more about the construction over at denhaag.nl in English. The end of the route, Statenkwartier, will be tackled in the second half of this year. At that point tram 16 will ride over the route of tram 3 for part of its journey. The expectation is that everything will be done by March 2023.

For the most part I am a fan of Avenio trams, especially as they are level with the ground so you don’t need to go up or down a few stairs like you do with the old trams. (That came in handy once when I bought something heavy. Distance wise I could have easily walked home but due to how heavy it was I decided to take one of the Avenio trams to get closer to my house.) It is of course also helpful if you have a stroller or luggage.

The only thing I don’t like about the Avenio trams is that both sides are two seaters. The old trams are a bit narrower and have 2 seaters on the left side and single seaters on the right. When I am traveling alone I always go for a single seat or I stand.

The color of the Avenio tram (omroepwest.nl in Dutch) will slowly be changing from red-black to white-red between now and the end of 2023. As each tram comes in for maintenance it will be updated. I did see one in the wild already last month but I didn’t have time to take a photo. The Hague’s public transportation company HTM is doing this because it is easier to see white-red than it is black-red, so it is a bit safer for traffic.

Categories: The Hague, Transportation | Tags: Centrum, HTM, trams | Leave a comment

Just how crowded is it? (Or: Sign in a tram in The Hague)

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Niki

Earlier last month while on a tram ride I spotted a sign asking Is het rustaagh?!

Is het rustaagh?! is the equivalent of the Dutch saying Is het rustig? but spelled with an Hague accent. It means “Is it busy?” in English. It was a sign promoting HTM’s service to show how crowded a tram was in the HTM app or on the HTM website. The service was first introduced in September of last year, with occasional promotion popping up during the busier months.

Categories: Transportation | Tags: HTM, trams | Leave a comment

On the rooftop (Or: View from Bleyenberg)

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Niki

Recently I visited Bleyenberg, a restaurant/rooftop bar/meeting spaces/office type combination. Oh, and apparently they have small, private karaoke spaces as well. Very Japanese like.

Here is a look at the city centre of The Hague from Bleyenberg’s rooftop:

Off in the distance is the Grote Markt terrace. The wide street below is the Grote Markt itself, and just under the glass railing you can see the statue of Haagse Harry.

In other news:

For the next two weeks there is a pop-up store at Leiden Centraal train station, featuring products made from recycled materials from NS, the national train service. The linked article is in Dutch from omroepwest.nl. Think of things like shoes or bags made from seat material or a bird cage made from an information board.

A fan of HTM (The Hague’s public transportation company) has purchased an old HTM bus (also in Dutch from omroepwest.nl). He doesn’t live in The Hague, but he remembers taking the bus often to see his grandmother. The bus now sits in his backyard and he is working on renovating it. Apparently his wife was less than thrilled when he said he wanted to purchase it…

Categories: The Hague | Tags: Centrum, HTM, NS | Leave a comment

“New” check in machines in older Dutch trams (Or: No more gibberish)

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Niki

In a sign that I no longer ride the tram every day, here is a photo of a new check in / out machine in the older Dutch trams. They were first installed back in January of this year in older red-and-beige trams (article in Dutch from omroepwest.nl).

The “no more gibberish” comment is in reference to a blog post that I did late last year where I showed how screwed up the older machines were getting. One of the bigger pluses with the new machines is the space for where you can put your card is much wider (basically hold your card against the screen or underneath). I still remember with faint embarrassment how I tried to put my OV chip card on the tiny green screen when I first moved here (see image in the blog post linked above). With the old machines you needed to put your card against the white part where the pink logo was. Opps.

And also public transportation related: Dutch trains to start return to old timetables within 2 weeks from nltimes.nl. If all goes according to the government’s plan the advice to only travel if strictly necessary will also expire next week, which means trains will get much busier.

But we will see how the coming days play out. On the one hand the government wants to ease restrictions to help the economy (among other things), on the other hand we had over 9,600 corona cases today, the most since early January. It will be an interesting few weeks, that’s for sure.

Categories: Transportation | Tags: HTM, NS | Leave a comment