Tram line

There used to be a tram line at this location. The tram line was built by the Nederlandsch-Westphalialsche Stoomtram-Maatschappij (NWSM) and opened on 18 July 1903. This local railway line was built for the transport of workers and goods to and from the textile factories in Twente. The line was operated by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) and from 1 January 1938 by the Nederlandsche Spoorwegen (NS). Originally, they wanted to build a through line from Denekamp via Oldenzaal and Losser to Gronau, where there would be a connection to the German railway network. However, the direct connection between Gronau and Denekamp was 'cut' in Oldenzaal. The crossing of the Hengelo - Bentheim railway line was too expensive. The station for the line from Gronau became Oldenzaal EO, south of the line Hengelo - Bentheim, where the trains to Enschede also departed. The trams to Denekamp departed from the station square in front of Oldenzaal AS station on the Hengelo - Bentheim line.

Passenger transport on the Oldenzaal - Denekamp route was discontinued on 15 May 1936. Freight transport still took place. However, World War II marked the end of the line. The NS had to hand over five hundred kilometres of track and sleepers to the German occupying forces and the company opted for a large part of this line, among other things. On 23 July 1942, NS also discontinued the freight service to Denekamp. Almost immediately after the closure, the break-up began. Only a small part of the line, from Oldenzaal (AS) to Oldenzaal Bentheimerstraat, would be retained for freight traffic until 15 July 1957.

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