Before the Second World War, Rotterdam did not have a central station, but four stations that were located in and around the center and from which travelers traveled in different directions. These were the stations Delftse Poort (towards Schiedam, The Hague HS and Amsterdam CS), Beurs (towards Dordrecht), Maas (towards Gouda and Utrecht) and Hofplein (towards The Hague HS/Scheveningen).
Trains from the direction of Utrecht ended at Maas station from 1858 to 1953. In 1953, a new route was put into use whereby the train from Utrecht was led over the Ceintuurbaan, which until then connected Station DP with Station Maas. Rotterdam Noord became a stop train stop on that route and until 1967 a stop for the international trains Hoek van Holland – Utrecht – Amersfoort – Hengelo – Germany (and Poland/Russia). In the same year, Maas Station was closed and demolished and a new station building, called Rotterdam Central Station, was opened in Rotterdam Noord. In 1957, Rotterdam Central Station was opened, which, as the end of the new arterial road, provided a connection from the center of Rotterdam in all directions, including Gouda and on to Utrecht and The Hague HS via Berkel and Rodenrijs.
Not all railway lines were fully connected to Central Station: the trains on the Hofplein line still ran twice an hour to Rotterdam Hofplein station (and once an hour from Rotterdam Kleiweg station over the Ceintuurbaan to Rotterdam Central Station). Since 17 August 2010, transport via the Hofplein line route to The Hague with metros of the RandstadRail has been completely handled via Central Station and the nearby Hofplein station has been closed permanently.