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Naar NS.nl

So I don’t wanna be looked like a train nerd, but since I actually am one, did some research on the ticket system in different countries, found the NS system pretty interesting since it capped the price at 200km, and am now in the Netherlands, I wanna know if a random train fan like me who wanna take a day off on train, and wanna take round trip on NS network (we set the trip to be no longer than 6 hours so the OV chipkaart can still be checked out at the endpoint).

I am doing a comparision with Japanese Daitoshi kinkō kukan (lit. Megacity suburban area) since they usually allow free detour within the area, and you can technically travel 1075.5km and end your trip in a different station than you have started, for a starting price of 140 JPY, as long as you do not travel onto any same station you have been to. You can do this in Japan either by holding a valid ticket or by your Suica Card.

  1. If he checked into Amsterdam CS, jumped onto the IC (say, to Vlissingen) and dropped himself off at Rotterdam CS, then without checking out he set himself onto an IC to the north (Leeuwardeen/Groningen). Now, I wonder if the trip until Utrecht CS is technically considered by the NS T&C 2.4.1 “travelling towards the station at which you checked in” and his ticket is no longer valid, or as long as he’s not getting back to AmCS his OV chipkaart is still a valid travel ticket?
  2. in 1, what if he holds a single trip ticket to Zwolle but still took the detour?
  3. If, say, he make up his mind “hey I wanna take the ICNG, I wanna feel the new train”, and from AmCS he took whatever he can find to Den Haag CS, then travelled all the way to Eindhoven CS on ICNG. Then, he jumped anything he can find to Utrecht and back to Am Zuid to end his trip. Here are two questions: 1> if transferring between Den Haag CS and the switch point (to Laan van NOI or to Holland Spoor) is considered by T&C 2.4.1 not valid? 2>as he travelled till Eindhoven, is the trip between Boxtel and Eindhoven CS considered repeat and is no longer valid? As far as I know the Japanese railway actually defined that if you took express from a farther station than Nippori (a non stopper for quicker trains) to Ueno, then travel to Omiya direction, which does go thru Nippori, it’s considered valid by special definition. However there’s no specified definition in NS rules, but only states “if your direction of travel is beyond your control”.
  4. in 3, what if he holds a single trip NS ticket to Am Zuid?

Thanks for doing geography on my nerdy questions.

 

The general rule is that you have to take a route given by the journey planner (without entering a via station). Any other routes are considered detours and are not allowed. (See the definition of Travel Route in the terms and conditions.)

In your first example, if you schedule a journey from Amsterdam Central to Leeuwarden/Groningen, you will never get a travel advice from the journey planner that goes via Rotterdam Central. Therefore, you are not allowed to be in a train from Rotterdam to Leeuwarden/Groningen if you have checked in in Amsterdam Central. You don't have a valid ticket in that train and risk a fine.

The same applies for a single trip ticket to Zwolle: the journey planner doesn't give options from Amsterdam Central to Zwolle via Rotterdam Central. In this case, you risk a fine even in the train from Amsterdam Central to Rotterdam Central.

As for your questions about Amsterdam via The Hague to Eindhoven: I'm not an expert when it comes to the trains in that region, but here too the question is what the journey planner would advise you. Since there's no option given from Amsterdam to Eindhoven via The Hague, that's clearly not allowed, but I think Delft would be okay. Breda and further don't seem to be, according to my quick glance at the journey planner.

The text about your direction of travel being beyond your control is about unscheduled disruptions. For example, the regular route from Amsterdam to Eindhoven goes via Utrecht, but if that route is not available, a detour via Rotterdam would be okay. The journey planner would then indicate that route too.

Again, with a single trip ticket from Amsterdam Central to Amsterdam South you're only allowed to take trains that show up in the journey planner. The journey planner certainly doesn’t include options via The Hague or Eindhoven, so clearly you're not allowed to take that massive detour and, again, risk a fine.

The best solution to all of this is to travel with an OV-chipcard and check out and in again at the station where you deviate from the advice given by the travel planner, e.g. going from Amsterdam to Leeuwarden/Groningen you check out and in again in Rotterdam, and going from Amsterdam Central to Amsterdam South via The Hague and Eindhoven you check out and in again in The Hague and Eindhoven. If your check in is within 35 minutes after checking out, then NS will see this as a continuation of your trip and the 200 tariff units cap still applies.

The easiest thing you can do is to not use your OV-chipcard but buy a eticket Day Ticket. With an eticket you can not check in or out, you just open gates with it when you enter of leave a station with gates and you can do all the things you describe without ever checking in of out. 

A day ticket costs twice as much compared to what you’d pay if you kept joining individual trips to one journey. Of course, you can only do this in a window of six hours after checking in for the first time.

A day ticket costs twice as much compared to what you’d pay if you kept joining individual trips to one journey. Of course, you can only do this in a window of six hours after checking in for the first time.

Does it? I'm surprised to find they seem to cost inly €58,80 nowadays.

The price of a day ticket is twice the maximum fare of a single trip. If you keep joining short trips together by checking out and then in again within 35 minutes, then the fare will never be higher than the maximum fare of a single trip. As long as the total duration of the journey does not exceed six hours, that is.

The general rule is that you have to take a route given by the journey planner (without entering a via station).

The best solution to all of this is to travel with an OV-chipcard and check out and in again at the station where you deviate from the advice given by the travel planner, e.g. going from Amsterdam to Leeuwarden/Groningen you check out and in again in Rotterdam, and going from Amsterdam Central to Amsterdam South via The Hague and Eindhoven you check out and in again in The Hague and Eindhoven. If your check in is within 35 minutes after checking out, then NS will see this as a continuation of your trip and the 200 tariff units cap still applies.

 

Thanks for your kind answer. 

So in general if you use the OV chipkaart and check into the detouring station, then NS will see your detour as a continuation.

Then on the Eindhoven case, since both trains from Tilburg or to Den Bosch run on Boxtel-Eindhoven part, if you checked out at Eindhoven is the trip still considered continuation? or since there’s a repeated part of the journey, it’s invalid to continue and then considered a new journey?

 

It doesn't matter what the route is you're travelling. You could even be going back and forth between the same two stations multiple times. All that matters is that there's less than 35 minutes between checking out and checking in again, and that the entire journey takes place within six hours.

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