Trains
Trains are run by the national Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS Dutch Railways) and connect all major Dutch cities. There are intercity trains that travel between cities, and sprinters that travel between villages.
Arriva also operate train services in some parts of the Netherlands.
Bring your bicycle
It is possible to bring your bicycle with you on the train at certain times. See the cycling page for more information on how to do this.
Bring your pets
Cats and small dogs can travel on the train free of charge. Guide dogs (including those in training) are free of charge when they are recognisable as an assistance dog. Larger dogs must have a dog ticket, which costs €3.50. See NS - dog ticket for more information.
Buses
The country has extensive urban bus networks that connect outlying districts and nearby villages with their city centres. Bus transport in Brabant is provided by Arriva and Hermes.
Arriva buses operate in west and east Brabant, and Hermes in southeast Brabant.
In Brabant, if there are no city, regional or local buses in your area, you can make use of regiotaxi/deeltaxi (regional taxi) or taxbus. See Bravo for more details.
Payment on public transport
In the Netherlands, you can pay for the bus, tram, metro, and train with OV-pay, an anonymous or personal OV chip card (OV-chipkaart) or with a ticket purchased in advance. On buses in Brabant you can also buy a ticket from the bus driver with your bank card or smartphone.
- With OV-pay, you use your contactless debit card or credit card, mobile or smartwatch to pay.
- With a personal OV chip card, you can use personal subscriptions and age-related discounts. You can choose to load money onto the card as required, set up automatic reloading, or use NS Flex, whereby credit is not required as you receive an invoice at the end of each month for the services used. You cannot share your personal OV chip card. You can purchase a personal OV chip card online via OV-chipkaart.nl.
- An anonymous OV chip card is not personal, and so you cannot add subscriptions. You can share an anonymous card with multiple people, but not simultaneously. Each person travelling must have their own OV chip card. You can purchase an anonymous OV chip card at any train station and other points of sale, such as supermarkets.
- You can also buy tickets for trains online, in the NS app or from ticket machines at stations.
Checking in and out
When travelling on public transport using either OV pay or an OV chip card, you need to check in at the start of your journey and check out at the end.
Checking in
- Hold your card/mobile up to the OV logo on the card reader.
- You will hear a beep and see a green light, and as a sort of surety, money is deducted from your credit balance.
- For OV-chip cards in off-peak hours, it is the check-in time that is used for discounts, not the travel time. (This is not the case for discounted e-tickets).
Sufficient credit
- When using an OV chip card, you must ensure that there is sufficient credit on the card before starting your journey.
- An automatic deposit amount of €10/20(depending on whether or not you have a personal card with an NS subscription) is reserved on the card for train travel, and mostly €4 for bus travel.
- If you pay by invoice at the end of the month (such as with NS Flex) or have a valid travel product on your card, the credit requirement is not applicable.
- You cannot travel if the balance is below this amount, so you will need to either top up the card or use another form of payment. You can top up your balance at vending machines, select service desks, or by credit. Alternatively, you can activate automatic reloading online via the web shop.
Checking out
- At the end of your trip, check out in the same way.
- Again you will hear a beep.
- The real cost for the trip is now deducted from your credit balance.
Checking in and out when using multiple buses or trains
If you are using multiple buses or trains during the same trip, you need to be aware of the following:
You do not need to check out and in again if you:
- switch trains with the same provider
- switch buses with the same provider
- switch buses from Hermes to Arriva (or vice versa) within Brabant
However, you do need to check out and in again if you :
- change means of transportation (bus to train / train to bus)
- change train provider from NS to Arriva, or vice versa. Then you will need to check out of NS and check in to Arriva (or vice versa).
Important!
There are separate check in/out gates and posts for NS and Arriva at stations where both services run. Make sure you use the correct posts/gates!
- Arriva posts are blue
- NS posts are yellow
Did you forget to check out?
If you forget to check out with an OV chip card, you can apply for a refund via www.ov-chipkaart.nl.
Travel discounts
Several discounts are available, including:
- age-related discounts (for under 18s and senior citizens)
- off-peak travel
- fixed-route season tickets
- unlimited travel
- group tickets
Children
- Children up to and including 3 years old travel for free on all carriers
- Those aged 4 to 11 can sometimes travel for free with an adult
More information on discounts
- NS discounts - go to NS discounts or NS group ticket
- Discounted bus tickets - see Hermes subscriptions or Tickets | Bravo
Tips for bus travel
- When waiting at a bus stop, do not forget to raise your hand to alert the bus driver to stop!
- You also need to alert the bus driver when you would like to get off the bus. There is a button you press that rings a bell.
- Although bus drivers try to stick to the schedule, buses might arrive a bit earlier or later than planned, so it is a good idea to be at the bus stop five minutes in advance.