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Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

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Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#101

Post by CalRobert »

andrepd wrote: post #49
netule wrote: post #4

That’s the introductory price. It’ll be €127,95 after that period is over. Kids travel for free, though, so that’s pretty nice. In hindsight, I think I underestimated the value of my OV card while I was a student: travel whenever, using all types of public transport, for free.

Note that 128€ is the monthly price for 100% discount, but 6€ is the monthly price for 40% discount. It brings the prices of rail travel in the Netherlands from "fucking ludicrous" to just "reasonably expensive".

Kids under 12 free, too. I don't look forward to having to pay for both of them. Utrecht to Amsterdam round trip for a family of 4 is €80 for a family of 4, or €48 with the discount.

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#102

Post by CalRobert »

NoahZuniga wrote: post #26
gib444 wrote: post #5

Not for visitors AIUI. You need some kind of card only locals can get.

Yes you need a card (ov-chipkaart or ov-pas) but you don't need to be a local to get one. You just order one online for 7.5/5 euros. You do need an address for it to be delivered to, but its valid for 5 years so if you visit the Netherlands again you can reuse it.

Time, too - they print a card with your photo on it and it takes a couple weeks to show up.

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#103

Post by CalRobert »

wahern wrote: post #60
pocksuppet wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i've seen this argument before, normally they're talking about homeless people sleeping on trains or in stations

Homeless are the most visible, but perhaps not the biggest issue. See, e.g., the problem with public toilets: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/1248664709/-public-good-why-i... > JOHN COCHRANE: I think the activists who wanted toilet equity did not imagine the solution would be no toilet or a fight with businesses over who's going to be able to use the toilet. > [...] > BERAS: Without that incentive, Nik-O-Lok was right…

I love paying a euro for the toilet in Europe and getting one that 1) actually works and 2) isn't utterly vile.

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#104

Post by CalRobert »

asdff wrote: post #52
pocksuppet wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i've seen this argument before, normally they're talking about homeless people sleeping on trains or in stations

Always funny to me how people try and put laws on things for homeless people when the ills people are worried about with homeless people are already illegal but not being enforced. E.g., "we must charge for transit, to keep homeless people off as they could smoke meth on the platform." Never mind smoking meth on the platform is already illegal. Never mind that it isn't getting enforced. Never mind that this lack of e…

This has crossed my mind for other things too, like immigration.

People say they don't want immigrants because of crime (whether that's a reasonable concern is a different topic entirely), but it presupposes that laws against crime aren't enforced. If we had stricter law enforcement would people worry about (immigrants, the homeless, etc.) less?

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#105

Post by gib444 »

andrepd wrote: post #49
netule wrote: post #4

That’s the introductory price. It’ll be €127,95 after that period is over. Kids travel for free, though, so that’s pretty nice. In hindsight, I think I underestimated the value of my OV card while I was a student: travel whenever, using all types of public transport, for free.

Note that 128€ is the monthly price for 100% discount, but 6€ is the monthly price for 40% discount. It brings the prices of rail travel in the Netherlands from "fucking ludicrous" to just "reasonably expensive".

> It brings the prices of rail travel in the Netherlands from "fucking ludicrous"

Haha I can't help but feel the Dutch firmly believe rail should be completely free

Isn't it fairly common for your employer to pay half to all of your commuting cost too...? (Almost unheard of in the UK for comparison, with people regularly paying £2,000-£10,000/year to commute)

And the Netherlands is like 10th in Europe for on-the-day return costs per km

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/01/09/rail-fares-across...

Though to be fare I think it's some shorter journeys that are quite expensive right? Eg Utrecht to Amsterdam is 20 EUR return which is pricey. But paying €6/mo to save 40% seems a pretty good deal if you travel a lot off peak

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#106

Post by netule »

vel0city wrote: post #96
netule wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And? What's the gotcha you're implying?

That you clearly value other things the US offers over the transit situation. If the transit matters that much , making the US such an unlivable hellscape, why stay? I think that's probably the point they're trying to make. IMO that doesn't mean we shouldn't bother to make the transit better, but some people think its somehow related. A lot of people think the "success" of the US is strongly correlated to this suburb…

Right, I assumed the same argument. I've spent over half my life here, so it's obviously not that important to me, nor was it a factor in my decision to move here. Yet it's an observation I can make, having two distinct perspectives to compare, not a judgment on America. Ugh. It's the whole "yet you participate in society" meme, or the "well, if you don't like it, why not go home?" argument, which could well both be logical fallacies I don't know the names of.

Anyway, more public transit for the people and all that.

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#107

Post by CalRobert »

joe_mamba wrote: post #77
netule wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved here from The Netherlands in 2004, and have now lived in Florida, California, and Mississippi and stayed for prolonged periods in many US cities for my job. I wouldn’t feel safe riding a bicycle anywhere here considering the speed of traffic, the size of the vehicles, and lack of dedicated biking infrastructure. It’s a completely different world when you share the road with angry F150 drivers blasting past yo…

[flagged]

I’m from the US and moved to the Netherlands but there are still some things I prefer about the US (bug screens on windows for instance)

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#108

Post by sparqlittlestar »

gib444 wrote: post #105
andrepd wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that 128€ is the monthly price for 100% discount, but 6€ is the monthly price for 40% discount. It brings the prices of rail travel in the Netherlands from "fucking ludicrous" to just "reasonably expensive".

> It brings the prices of rail travel in the Netherlands from "fucking ludicrous" Haha I can't help but feel the Dutch firmly believe rail should be completely free Isn't it fairly common for your employer to pay half to all of your commuting cost too...? (Almost unheard of in the UK for comparison, with people regularly paying £2,000-£10,000/year to commute) And the Netherlands is like 10th in Europe for on-the-day…

If not reimbursed 100% (like my public transport costs are), your public transport costs are tax-deductible at a staggered rate up to €0.29 per km.

https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontentnl/...

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#109

Post by lava_pidgeon »

joegibbs wrote: post #94

As an Australian, why are European train prices so high? Obviously it's due to a lack of subsidies, but why are they not subsidised? For instance, a train from London to Edinburgh (about 4 hours) is about $120 while an equivalent trip in Australia (Melbourne to Albury) is about $10 (it used to be about $40, but that's still much cheaper). Sydney to Melbourne is 900 kilometers and $80, Berlin to Paris is minimum $172.…

Railway is national and cross border is always expensive. For a similar distance you can check Hamburg - Munich.

Europe is too poor to subsidiase long travel trains :p EU policy is more to introduce more competitions into the system / partly privatise it (like it works in Italy)

Re: Dutch Railways offers unlimited off-peak train travel nationwide for €49/month

#110

Post by CalRobert »

CalRobert wrote: post #101
andrepd wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that 128€ is the monthly price for 100% discount, but 6€ is the monthly price for 40% discount. It brings the prices of rail travel in the Netherlands from "fucking ludicrous" to just "reasonably expensive".

Kids under 12 free, too. I don't look forward to having to pay for both of them. Utrecht to Amsterdam round trip for a family of 4 is €80 for a family of 4, or €48 with the discount.

oops, "full fare" replaces one of those "family of 4"
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