Transport Card in the Netherlands and its Tales! PART-1

#nstrains #transport #gvb #ariva #publictransport #subscription #savemoney

Main Post Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiansinthenetherlands

Hi All,

Bhiya Raaam, - Who Adipursh wala nahi ! Asli Indori wala.
So, NS Travel and saving money is a long waiting and confusing post many have requested. It was long pending and complicated so took time to explore what can benefit us! us matlab Bhartiya logo ki paise bachane ki technic.

There are multiple PnC of the package and how do you use it? I have tried to make it simple and easier. It’s a long post but if you can read until the end.
You will be an expert hopefully :-P

Basics to be cleared !!!
***FIRSTLY, many important points from all angles will help a lot! matlab “Mann ki baat” .

• 1. The best APP apart from 9292 and Google and NS APP, I use CITYMAPPER, this will be best all in combination with these and you can change the city and use this app in all Europe countries when you travel. Easy and efficient.
  • a. Link for City Mapper: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.citymapper.app.release&hl=en&gl=US
  
  

  City Mapper App

  
  
  
• 2. “Bus Train aur Ladhki, ek jaati hai dusri aati hai” but in NL you have 5 major transport that you will see, and before we get confused let's see how they are separated.
  • Bus – Mostly all the cities have this transport system but there are some cities where only Bus is used as major transport internally city Like Almere. It also covers small stops which are inside an area.

  • Tram / Light Rail – Train running on roads can be called Trams, They are not in all cities but the same as buses. There are cities where both buses and trams are present.

  • Mini Van – There are places where minivan are used to transport, they all have logo and display and comes at the bus stop only. For example, Delft bus stop you will see.

  • Metro : Metro , simple words fastest way to reach on major points. Another version of Train which uses Subway tunnel and sometimes metro line on ground or above.

  • Train: They are divided into 2 parts. Sprinter and Intercity.
    • i. In Simple words, Sprinter stops at every stop ( Like Passenger Train in India).
    • ii. Intercity – Stops on Major stations and connect cities.

      *Left - Sprinter *Right - Intercity types
    
    Example: From Amsterdam to Utrecht.
    • - Sprinter will stop on All stops like Amstel, Muiderpoort, Duivendrecht, Bijmer Arena, etc
    • - Intercity will only stop at Bijlmer Arena and then Utrecht.
• 3. Check-in/out – No matter what you have, you have to do check-in and check-out in each transport you take. There are machines, entrances, and Pillar for doing so. Below are the pictures for reference. Usually Metro and
  • BUS

  • Pillars ( Example on Schipol Airport )

  • When transferring from NS Train to the Metro or vice verse.
    *Usually you have to change the terminal or platform for METRO and NS but in some cases you have to switch. Example : Amstel Station.

  • NS Entrace for checkin/out at Every Station.

  • Metro Entrance for checkin/out at Every Station.

  • There are places ( NS ) station where check-in Entrance is not there then ensure you pillars to do so. If you don’t you will be charged until the last station.
    
  • UIT means OUT and IN is IN. Abhi kya hi bolu.
• 4. Peak and Off Peak – Bahut important hai , This will be for Subscription you will take in later points of this post. The moment you check in determines the discount you will receive for the entire journey.
  • a. Off-peak hours are on
    • i. weekdays from 00:00 - 06:30, between 09:00 - 16:00 and between 18:30 - 24:00 the next morning, plus all day at weekends and on public holidays. On weekends and holidays, off-peak hours apply all day.
    • b. Peak hours are the hours between 6:30 and 9:00 a.m., and from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m., from Monday to Friday.
• 5. Recharge of Cards :
  • a. You can recharge your card by 5 ways.
    • i. Online > Remember even you recharge online you have to pick up order from machine at stations.
    • ii. Main Machines > These are yellow machine available at every station and some of bus/tram stop.

    • iii. Supermarket,Bruna etc > There are supermarket or service points where you can use Debit card ( Local NL ) to recharge.

    • iv. Inside Bus though its very few of them .

    • v. Enable Auto Debit >> This will enable direct debit from your bank account. We don’t do that as phatti hai kuch jyada nahi kat jaye. Ofcourse you can keep a track also.
• 6. Missed Checkin/Check out – If you have missed Checkin or Checkout then you can apply for refund and it works like charm. Just use the URl and fill details and your credit will be done .
  a. Link : https://www.uitcheckgemist.nl/?locale=en
• 7. Refund of Physical Card – If you want to return the Anonymous card, you can go to service counter at station and return the card and your card and Amount balance will be refunded to original payment method right away. Ye pata nahi than naah 😊 !! Bola tha bhai hai bata ke jayega.
• 8. Payments : a. Local Debit card like of ABN, ING and others works perfectly everywhere. b. But Onsite ya Forex Card walo, you can use your card in Big Yellow machine on Stations only. There might be slight change it works on small machine but I doubt.
• 9. One Card for everything – You can use one Ovi Chpcard in every city, province and place in NL. It doesn’t matter which transport provider you are travelling with. Example GVB, R-NET, Aviva, AllGo Etc. Aapka kaam hai ghumna, toh Ghumo.
• 10. Suppliment - This is very important that many people miss, You pay the supplement on your NS ticket if you are travelling on the Intercity direct between Schiphol and Rotterdam for part or all of your journey. You just need to tap on the Red Pillar as below. You will see special Mention in the NS App for which train you need to take the supplement.

  
  

• o Personal Ovi Chipcard – The personal OV-chipkaart (persoonlijke OV-chipkaart) is for one user and includes his / her name, date of birth, and photograph. Consequently, the personal version is non-transferable, but the owner does enjoy other benefits including the option to block it (for instance in case of theft) and automatic top up.
  •  You will need a Dutch address and bank account for applying this.

• o Anonymous Chipcard - The anonymous OV-chipkaart (anonieme OV-chipkaart) is reusable, and once loaded with electronic credit it can be used for travelling. It can be used by the owner as well as by others, but not at the same time.

• o Disposable Card - The disposable OV-chipkaart is made of stiff paper and cannot be topped up with credit. Thus, it is intended for travelers who do not use the Dutch public transportation system very often, for example, tourists, or one-time use cards on an hourly or daily basis, etc.

• o Debit/Credit Card - Using your debit card to travel on Dutch public transport. There is possibility to need to enable it from bank ( ING,ABN etc) but you can simply use this and start travelling.
• o NS Business Card : If you are working for a company and they offer free transport, they usually provide NS Business card for that. It can only be applied by a firm or company but not individual use.

• Link to order Personal OV Chipcard : https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/en
• You can get Anonymous Card via Big Yellow Machine as below.
• If you forget to check in or out, you will be charged a flat penalty. If you forget to do so more than 12 times within two weeks, your OV-chipkaart will be blocked. To unblock it, visit one of the Tickets & Info offices.
• In case of theft, you can have your OV-chipkaart blocked and the remaining credit transferred to either your bank account or to a new OV-chipkaart. The Customer Service number is 0900-0980 (0,10 euros per minute). This of course applies only to personal OV-chipkaart owners.
• If your anonymous OV-chipkaart is about to expire, visit OV-chipkaart and complete the "Restitutie verlopen anonieme OV-Chipkaart" form to refund the remaining credit.

• - Anonymous Card and Personal Ov Card is for 7.50 Euros ( Physical Cards ).
• - Disposable card are Paper/plastic cards and does not have special money but one time printed tickets in short.