De vele levens van het Maliebaanstation

Maliebaan station was built in 1874 by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM), a predecessor of NS. The station is situated on the Oosterspoorweg line between Amsterdam and Zutphen, with a branch line to Utrecht near Hilversum. The station was successful in its early days. This was mainly because the competing Staatsspoorwegen used the Oosterspoorweg and Maliebaan station for their international trains to Antwerp, Brussels and even Paris.

In 1890, the State Railways were given their own station in Utrecht. As a result, international trains no longer ran from Maliebaan station, and the focus shifted to local services. A small station was built near Maliebaan station, on Biltstraat. This was closer to the centre of Utrecht and connected to the tram service to Zeist. Consequently, passengers increasingly bypassed Maliebaan station, leaving it quiet and deserted.

Due to falling passenger numbers, Maliebaan station was converted into a goods station in 1908. In 1930, NS decided to transport goods and post mainly at night, so that passengers would no longer be inconvenienced by loading and unloading on the platforms during the day. Maliebaan station served as a central storage and transhipment station within this night-time transport network. For a brief period, activity returned, but Utrecht Central station soon took over the role of Maliebaan station.

By 1939, only three trains a day were still running from Maliebaan station. This prompted the NS to close the station. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands in 1940, they took over Maliebaan station. A large canteen was set up there where German soldiers could eat and drink before going home on leave. In 1942, at least two deportations of Jewish residents of Utrecht took place from Maliebaan station.

After the Second World War, Maliebaan Station became the national lost property office. All items left behind by passengers on trains or at stations ended up on the high shelving units at Maliebaan Station. There, all those umbrellas, coats and bicycles waited patiently for their rightful owners.

The Railway Museum was founded in 1928, but the collection led a nomadic existence. In 1954, Maliebaan Station became the permanent home of the Railway Museum. The building was renovated to such an extent that it was no longer recognisable as a station. In 2005, the Railway Museum was refurbished and expanded. Maliebaan Station was restored to the condition it was in when it was completed in 1874 and now serves as the museum’s imposing entrance.