Public transport in the Netherlands
Regional and local public transport is by bus and in some cities by metro and tram.
There are 18 public transport authorities in the Netherlands: the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, OV-bureau Groningen Drenthe (OVBGD), each of the 10 other provinces, Regio Twente, Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen, Bestuur Regio Utrecht (BRU), Vervoerregio Amsterdam [nl] (formerly Stadsregio Amsterdam), Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag (MRDH), and Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven (SRE).
Both are largely grade-separated, have standard gauge, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) track, and use 750 volt DC power supply throughout.
Both the Amsterdam and Rotterdam networks largely use third rail power supply, but include sections using overhead lines.
They all run on standard gauge, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) track, and use overhead wires electrified at 600 V DC.
They all run on standard gauge, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) track, and use overhead wires electrified at 750 V DC.
Both regional and city public transport bus services can be found throughout the country.
In the Randstad area lines with a high frequency and higher average speed have been branded as R-Net.
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.
Lines in the Randstad area with a high frequency and higher average speed have been branded as R-Net.
Carriers offering R-net services are Allgobus, Arriva, Connexxion, EBS, GVB, HTM, NS, Qbuzz and RET.
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.
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.
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.
You can travel using contactless payments on all Dutch public transport [3]: on all domestic trains, metros, trams and busses, nationwide [4].
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.
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 OV-chipkaart provides ticket integration for most public transport, while the National Tariff System is being phased out.
A public transport pass for train (2nd class), bus, metro and tram OV-Vrij costs €4640,40 / year (2017).
The card is relatively expensive compared to the Off-Peak Free Pass (in Dutch: Dal Vrij abonnement) for €1118 / year, allowing free journeys with NS and other train companies, starting in the off-peak hours.
Connexxion's route planner produces a map showing the points of departure, transfer and arrival, connected by straight lines.
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.
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).
In at least one case [20] the pdf file is apparently prepared for being printed only, not for reading from the screen: the tables are rotated.
