The rules and laws in english for public transportation in the hague.
https://tranzer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Vervoervoorwaarden_stads_en_streekvervoer_mei_2015_EN_FINAL-1.pdf
Company which is managing the public transport in the Hague and in fact other cities in the Netherlands is called HTM Personenvervoer. The shares of this company “are held by the Municipality of The Hague (99%) and the Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam and The Hague (MRDH).”
https://www.htm.nl/en/about-us/our-board-of-directors/shareholders
"The General Terms and Conditions for Urban and Regional Transport 2015 and the Passenger Transport Act 2000 [...] are the basis for the work of the Special Investigating Officers. They are authorised to fine and detain fare dodgers and rule-breakers. HTM and the police concluded agreements about this in a covenant (in 2006 together with so called the Haaglanden police). "
https://www.htm.nl/en/about-us/social-security/special-investigating-officers
In this page One will find various experiments, interventions and actions made in one of the public tram stops in the Hague, the Netherlands.
These action were carried out in a few months from September to December 2020. The manner of the aproach to the space is changing through out the course. New perspectives are adopted and played out.
Tram No.4 arrived; Tram No.4 departed; Tram No.2 arrived & Tram No.3 arrived; Tram No.3 departed & Tram No.2 departed; Tram No.2 arrived, Tram No.3 arrived; Tram No.2 departed; Tram No.3 departed; Tram not carrying passengers arrived & departed; Tram No.34 arrived; Tram No.34 departed; Tram No.4 arrived; Tram No.6 arrived; Tram No.4 departed; Tram No.6 departed; Tram No.2 arrived; Tram No.6 arrived & Tram No.2 departed; Tram No.6 departed; Tram No.4 arrived; Tram No.4 departed; Tram No.3 arrived; Tram No.3 departed; Tram No.3 arrived; Tram not carrying passengers arrived, Tram No.3 departed; Tram not carrying passengers departed; Tram No.3 arrived; Tram No.3 departed; Tram No.6 arrived;
For authentic and liberal experience, press the middle mouse button and navigate by moving the mouse...
The place is kind a large. I feel a little bit overwhelmed by it, not too much though. It is very wide and it looks like it goes on infinitely. It has this smell of wet and warm basement, where people would put all kinds of things along with pickled jams and vegetables from the autumn harvest. And indeed, when you enter the place, you feel the air is warmer. It seems to be a busy place, but I also feel relaxed in it, and I can find my comfort. The colours are dark and pale. It is one the line of being a cosy place and a brutal, dark place. That’s why it calms you and frightens you at the same time.
I feel spaced out in this space.
For me this place is timeless. I don’t recognise the flow of time when I am there. I don’t recognise the texture, nor the taste of time. Even though, the time in here is very important and precise.
Also, this PLACE activates my memories. I experience some strong connections with spaces I have seen or been to in my life. Or at least, this is how it appears in my own mind.
The place acts as a wormhole. I don’t feel like I am entering the space when I go to this place. It feels more like I am going through a portal to many spaces scattered across the plane of possibilities.
- This place opened on 16 October 2004 as part of the city's new tram tunnel.
- The First time I have been in here was 23rd of August, 2021, around 8:55 AM.
- Five seconds ago, a small boy on the other side of the platform coughed.
- In 1998, during the construction of the Tram tunnel, a large hole formed, through which groundwater flowed into the tunnel. Due to the danger of collapse and to prevent further damage to the adjacent buildings, the entire tunnel was flooded. As a result, the tunnel has been nicknamed The Hague Swimming Tunnel or Tramtanic. The construction proved to be a disaster and costed twice the amount it was supposed to be, around 235 million EUR.
- 200 million years ago dinosaurs and other mysterious creatures, which are fantasised by scientists today, roamed here, and at that time this place was part of one supercontinent which we now call Pangea. Also, this place was somewhere near the north pole.
- A few decades ago, this space was full of rocks, dirt, sand, soil water, worms, moles, and other living beings. Now, it is full of air.
- Around 1580 in this place there was a bridge and a canal. It was not very far away from the edge of the city.
- In 14th of May 1940, the Nazi Germany came here and stayed for a few years.
- After two weeks, the elevator on the left is not making the squeaky noise anymore. It became silent.
I went to the second-hand shop in search of a nice-looking watch. An indeed I have found one. It was quite small and cute. It was made from metal and a little bit shiny. It even had a cute alarm mechanism with two metal half spheres on top of it and a little metal hammer.
I noticed that the tram stop underground only has little digital clocks, near by the digital timetables. Very pixelated clocks. Since time is of such great importance in here, I decided to plant my little clock in the tram station. I put it on the bench, then on the ground. I also tried to put it on the stairs. This was my humble gift to the tram stop. I wanted this place to feel more analogue, give it a little bit of warmth. Like the old analogue photos back in the day. Also, the clock, I thought, is something of huge importance in a place like this, it might come in handy for somebody running late.
I might also be running late someday.
