This is a very interesting, detailed and well-presented description of the Rotterdam Metro system and its history. Published in early 2008, it includes a chapter on the conversion of the Hofpleinlijn to RandstadRail, with a detailed discussion of the problems that arose there in 2006-2007.

Naturally, there are some areas where I would have liked to see more detail (the chapter on signalling, for instance, describes very well how the cab-signalling system looks to the driver, but says little about the technology behind it, or about what it looks like to the signallers), and others I found less interesting (the chapter on ticketing, the "they also have a metro in Amsterdam" appendix). What was very well done was the discussion of the planning and construction of the system.

Something I did miss was a more extensive discussion of the impact of the metro on Rotterdam and its development, or of the metro as passengers experience it. It seems that the book is written in the first place by metro drivers, for metro drivers.

It would have been nice if they could have made the book 1cm smaller to fit on my shelves, though... ( )