It was revealed that while you’re sitting on a train with a Dutch destination, there’s a good chance your neighbour paid far less than you. Huh, how? Purely by booking through another railway company.
We’ve all been suspecting it, but it’s now officially confirmed: the NS is bad for our wallets.
As it turns out, a trip from Amsterdam to Budapest will cost you up to double the price when booked through NS International instead of other railway companies.
To investigate this price difference further, RTLNieuws crunched some numbers to compare the price of domestic train travel in the Netherlands to that of Belgium.
been crying for 2 days because I can't go to the woosung concert in Amsterdam- taking the train in The Netherlands is so expensive 😠€55??? In Belgium I pay €13, I'm so mad- @NS_online will tickets ever be cheaper so I can go see my favorite artists?
— wolf ☆ (@caprisunqueer) April 7, 2022
They found that for the same distance of roughly 80 kilometres (from Breda to The Hague, or Antwerp to Nijvel, for example), you’ll pay almost €5 more in the Netherlands.
Tips to save a few bucks (by avoiding NS)
In response to the pricey Dutch train tickets, people who regularly travel from Roosendaal in the south of the Netherlands to Antwerp in Belgium have figured out a trick to save a few bucks. 💸
Rather than booking the train from one city to the next with NS, one option is to pay for the trip with the Belgian railway company (NMBS) and save €2.60, for every trip — not bad!
Or, rather than taking the Antwerp train all the way from Roosendaal, some thrifty Dutchies just hop in their car for a 10-minute ride to the Essen train station on the other side of the border.
READ MORE | 17 places you can get to by TRAIN from the Netherlands
There, they park their car for free and hop on the same train to Antwerp. How much do they save by driving 8 kilometres rather than taking the train? A whopping €9.80! 😳
Not only are train distances cheaper in Belgium and Germany, but they also offer loads of great deals. Travelling with a friend? Belgium lets you snag a duo return ticket and pay only a third of the price! Above the age of 65? You’re entitled to a price cap of €7.80 for almost any distance in Belgium!
So, what does the NS say?
In short, in almost every aspect that you’re looking at it, train travel is more expensive in the Netherlands than it is in Belgium and Germany.
Unfortunately, it turns out that NS isn’t feeling very apologetic. Even worse: they seem unable to explain why there are such big price differences… 🤨
READ MORE | 11 of the best free things to do in The Hague
For now, we guess we have no choice but to get inspired by thrifty Dutchies, open up twenty tabs at once, and compare every company’s offers. Happy browsing!
What are your best tips to save some money when using public transport in the Netherlands? Tell us in the comments below!
Terribly expensive..thing is they r using renewbal energy…should be cheaper…
The prices and taxes in the Netherlands have become unbearable. They want us to take less flights when they’re much faster ans cheaper than taking international trains too. Train prices are stupid expensive even with subscriptions in both NS and Arriva. Meanwhile some European countries heavily subsidize or even provide free public transportation for their citizens. For the amount of taxes we pay in the Netherlands this is unforgivable.
I’d sell our car in a heartbeat if public transport could compete with it. But so far, owning a car is far less expensive than traveling by train. Which is insane.