Public transport in the Netherlands
The main public transport in the Netherlands for longer distances is by train. Long-distance buses are limited to a few missing railway connections. Regional and local public transport is by bus and in some cities by metro and tram. There are also ferries.
There are 18
They issue concessions for regions or specific lines.[1]
The main operators are
Public transport translates as openbaar vervoer in Dutch, which is abbreviated as ov. The abbreviation appears in names related to public transport.
Modes
Train
. The Dutch rail network is the busiest network in the entire world[citation needed].Metro
Three
- Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf(GVB)
- Rotterdam Metro, serving Rotterdam, Schiedam, Spijkenisse, Albrandswaard, and Capelle aan den IJssel, operated by Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET)
- RandstadRail line E, serving Rotterdam, The Hague and the suburbs in between, running partially on the lines of the Rotterdam Metro and partially shared with tram lines 3 and 4
Both the Amsterdam and Rotterdam networks largely use third rail power supply, but include sections using overhead lines. The RandstadRail metro line E uses third rail in the sections shared with Rotterdam metro trains, but mostly use overhead wires. These sections also have some level crossings (with priority), and could therefore also be called sneltram (light rail) instead of metro; however, they are integrated in the metro system and use vehicles that can switch between both systems.
Trams and light rail
Three cities in the Netherlands operate large
- Rotterdam tram network (operated by RET), serving Rotterdam, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Barendrecht
- The Hague tram network (operated by HTM), serving The Hague, Rijswijk, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Delft, Nootdorp, Wateringen
There are also two
- Uithof
- RandstadRail lines 3 and 4, serving The Hague, Zoetermeer and the suburbs in between, running partially on the lines of the Hague tram network and partially shared with metro line E
In the Netherlands, the only difference between a tram and a light rail line is considered to be that light rail doesn't share its lane with other traffic. Some lines could be partially seen as light rail such as
Bus
Both regional and city
All bus operations (except for in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague) are awarded by a transport authority to companies by a public tender. The concessions can last up to 10 years, with extensions of a few years if the transport authority is satisfied.
Operators include
Arnhem is the only city that still operates trolleybuses and maintains an extensive network.
The
R-net
R-net [nl] (or Randstadnet) is a collaborative project of governments and public transport operators providing high-quality public transport in the Randstad area of the Netherlands. Lines in the Randstad area with a high frequency and higher average speed have been branded as R-Net. These lines (be they bus, tram, metro or train) all use the R-net red-grey colour scheme and carry the R-net logo, regardless of the company operating the line.[3]: over R-net
R-net is an initiative of the cooperating provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and South Holland, plus the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area and Vervoerregio Amsterdam (Amsterdam regional transport). Carriers offering R-net services are Allgobus, Arriva, Connexxion, EBS, GVB, HTM, NS, Qbuzz and RET.[3]: over R-net
According to its website, R-net requires certain standards to be met. Services must be reliable and punctual, fast, frequent, accessible (e.g. for wheelchairs) and attractive with respect to stop design and comfort.[3]: 5 zekerheden All R-net stops must be fully accessible, and equipped with waiting shelters and digital displays showing real-time travel information.[3]: over R-net Transfers between R-net services must be quick and easy.[4]
In Amsterdam, Vervoerregio Amsterdam decided to use the R-net livery and logo on all metro trains but on only one tram line (
Hours of service, and frequency
On most lines there is no public transport at night. Services usually start between 5:00 and 7:00 on weekdays, a bit later on Saturdays, and even later than that on Sundays. Apart from quiet, rural lines, most services end just after midnight. Also there is no public transport from 20:00 on New Year's Eve.
There is a
From November to March the stretch
Even apart from special rush hour bus lines, some bus lines do not operate on Saturdays, Sundays and/or evenings.
The frequency of domestic trains is at least twice per hour during daytime on weekdays, except on two services by Arriva. Almost all timetables are planned on a clock-face schedule since 1971 and apart from a few regional lines all trains have a symmetry around x:00/x:30 as have neighboring countries. On many lines services are combined to 4x per hour during day or peak times. From December 2017 Intercity services between Amsterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven are increased to six trains per hour. Zwolle and Zupthen are full hubs, with (almost) all trains arriving and departing around the same time, creating a connection from and to each direction. At the larger stations frequencies are higher and only certain cross-platform transfers are timed.
Metros operate on frequencies of at least 4x per hour, with 6 to 10 trains per hour during day and peak times, but often two lines are combined on busier stretches, increasing the total frequency.
Trams mostly have a frequency of 6x per hour, with less services on late evenings and Sundays, but busy lines can have up to 15 trams per hour.
Buses vary greatly in services, depending on the population density of the area, quality of service and demand for transportion. Rural bus services have typically hourly or half-hourly frequencies, but if a bus line serves multiple important hubs or towns, frequencies can be much higher. In larger cities the frequencies are mostly 4x per hour or more. Line 12 in Utrecht was the busiest bus line in the Netherlands, with up to 30 departures per hour using bi-articulated buses. During peak times there was no fixed frequency, but staff members on the bus platforms monitored the passenger flow and would call a new bus in as soon as the previous bus was filled. As of 15 december 2019 the busline was replaced with the newly built tram 22.
Fares and tickets
You can travel using contactless payments on all Dutch public transport [3]: on all domestic trains, metros, trams and busses, nationwide [4]. You travel 2nd class, regular full price. The price is the same[5] as using the anonymous ov-chipcard (see below). You do not need an app or ticket, nor do you have to register or signup to use this. Apple Pay, Google Pay and many contactless debit and credit cards can directly be used [6].
Travelling using contactless works as following [7]: At the start of your journey, place your smartphone or bank card in front of the reader to check-in. At the end of your journey, or if you transfer, check-out at the same way. If you use a bank card, be sure to remove it from your wallet, to ensure that the system uses the right card. The costs will be shown in your bank transfer statement the next day, along with a website link and code to get your travel itinerary [8].
The
A public transport pass for train (2nd class), bus, metro and tram OV-Vrij costs €4640,40 / year (2017). It is also valid on the
For children under 4 no ticket is needed.
For children of 4 years and older, but younger than 12, and also for people of 65 and older, there is a discount of 34% in bus, tram and metro; this discount also applies to the youth aged between 12 until 18 in the province of North Brabant. In the case of use of an OV-chipkaart, the personal version is required. NS makes a distinction between children of 4-11 travelling with an adult (cheap Railrunner ticket), and those travelling alone or with each other (40% discount on the full fare, no additional discount when already benefiting the 40% off-peak discount).
See also rail fares in the Netherlands and NS fares and tickets.
Information
Route planners
A country-wide
A similar route planner is of NS.[9] However, it does not show any maps, except of the railway stations of departure, transfer, and arrival and their surroundings.[10]
Apart from NS some more operators offer their own route planner, but these may not take other operators into account. Connexxion's route planner produces a map showing the points of departure, transfer and arrival, connected by straight lines.
Maps
Prorail provides a railway map showing all stations, and showing at a point where lines A, B and C meet whether A splits into B and C, or B into A and C etc.[11] NS provides a schematic railway map with all railways for public transport, not showing at a point where lines A, B and C meet whether A splits into B and C, or B into A and C etc., so it does not show whether a train has to reverse direction when going from A to B etc.[12] There is also a dynamic version showing disruptions[13] and a version with indications of routes of train series, with their frequencies and stops.[14]
Common varieties of bus route maps include:
- map showing bus network, with only a selection of stops[15]
- map showing bus network, with all stops[16]
- small map showing the route of a single bus line, with all stops[17]
The first two types also clearly show railways and all railway stations. Highways are shown, but characteristic of these maps is that they are shown unobtrusively. The maps are provided as pdf-file of up to 7MB. For some pdf-viewers on smartphones this may be rather large. In that case a workaround is to create submaps with
Some operators only provide dynamic maps which cannot be directly downloaded. A workaround is downloading detail maps one by one (if necessary produced by PrintScreen), but, more than making submaps from a large pdf-file as mentioned above, this is a cumbersome procedure and results in a large collection of small detail maps without convenient navigation between them. (Even more cumbersome but with a better result is to paste groups of these small maps together.)[18]
The route planners do not provide in their results links to any of these route maps, these maps have to be looked up separately.
Timetables
Public transport timetables are partly available.
Train
The Spoorboekje is a collection of time tables in the form of pdf files, covering a year, but with intermediate renewal when needed (the physical timetable book was abolished in December 2010). It covers all operators of rail transport in the Netherlands, except those of heritage railways; it gives the departure times (and sometimes arrival times), but not the tracks. For international trains to and from the Netherlands, for the data for the parts abroad only a summary is given.
It provides tables with services in columns, arranged by timetable number and direction (a and b). A train route can involve multiple timetable numbers; an equal train service number indicates that columns in two tables refer to the same train.
For train services which do not operate daily throughout the year there are footnotes explaining the whole set of days of the year on which it operates.
Since a few years, the website treinreiziger.nl gives out a private timetable for the Netherlands. These are available online and at some station shops.
Bus, tram and metro
PDF files with timetables (sometimes many small files, sometimes a few large ones) are available on the sites of several operators. The tables are arranged similarly to the Spoorboekje, except that for each line and direction there are three separate tables: for Monday-Friday, for Saturday, and for Sunday. Also, they show the times for selected stops only. Some operators only provide for reading the tables on the screen, not for downloading them.
Also paper leaflets or small booklets with the timetable of a single line or a few lines are often available free of charge, and larger booklets are often for sale.
Toilets
Most trains and some ferries have a toilet, while buses, trams and metros do not. See also
See also
- Transport in the Netherlands
- Train routes in the Netherlands
- Railway stations in the Netherlands
- Trains in the Netherlands
- Transportation in Europe
External links
- R-net, a designation for high-order public transport in the Netherlands (in Dutch)
- List of public transport companies in the Netherlands
- Map of public transport concession areas in the Netherlands
References
- ^ Concessions; see also nl:Concessies in het Nederlandse openbaar vervoer#Overzicht concessies.
- ^ "Openbaar Vervoer" (in Dutch). Bestuur Regio Utrecht. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Dit is R-net" (in Dutch). R-net. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "R-net" (in Dutch). R-net. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf. 24 May 2017. Archived from the originalon 31 May 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf(in Dutch). 8 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.}
- ^ See for example Connexxion-Niteliner Archived 25 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- text message.
- ^ NS route planner: basic version in English, extended version in Dutch
- ^ Not working at the time of writing.
- ^ ProRail railway map Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NS railway map Archived 9 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine; it is produced by Carto Studio, see Carto Studio page about maps for public transport
- ^ Dynamic railway map showing disruptions
- ^ Treinreiziger railway map
- ^ Mostly from Carto Studio (see e.g. Carto Studio page about maps for public transport), for example Connexxion map Duin- en Bollenstreek Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ For example the common map of Rotterdam and surrounding region for RET and other operators (pdf) and Connexxion map Dordrecht Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, both of Carto Studio. The first uses colors based on properties, such as red lines for frequent bus services, regardless of the operator; the second uses the more common system of different colors for each line of the operator concerned, and grey for lines of other operators. Another example is the downloadable GVB map "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) by F.I.S. Cartografie; like in the first example, colors are based on properties, regardless of the operator, but here without distinction by frequency. - ^ For example Small map of the route of Connexxion bus line 90, with all stops, obtained at http://connexxion.nl after selecting a bus line, and clicking "Toon routekaart" (show route map). The underlying maps with unspecified producer are of a different style than the bus network maps.
- ^ Systems used:
- Continuously selectable submaps using Adobe Flash Player: HTM map Archived 20 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, by Carto Studio (see [1])
- Discrete submaps: GVU map, by Mapminded [2] Archived 23 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine. The map is provided in the form of 9×9 detail maps, where each can be reached through the overview map and also from an adjacent detail map.
- ^ For example Example of Connexxion timetable booklet.
- ^ OV-gids Overijssel