Van vandale: Je hebt gezocht op het woord: Klaagzang. klaag·zang (de; m; meervoud: klaagzangen) 1 treurige zang waarin over iemand of iets wordt geklaagd; = treurdicht, elegie 2 langdurig geklaag: altijd die klaagzangen over het weer!
@@buncharted2 they also forget the rural area's in the north and south east, less busses, less trains etc it used to be much better. Even employers dont cover like the car parking to get to a train station. The car parking almost costs as much as a a week of benzine to get to work...
@@buncharted2 Lower the prices or give us a good deal and we'll come back! I used to work for Arriva and the amount of people that couldn't afford a train ticket or a train ticket for their child has increased a lot over the past 3,5 years. I've given up on expecting NS or really any of these companies to fix their issues at this point. They aren't gonna prove us wrong I fear.
I do find that the NS' recent decisions on interior design are quite bad. The ICR carriages used on the IC Direct are much more comfortable than the ICNG that is replacing them. While the sprinters are somewhat better now than they were in the past, I do find that there is a regression when it comes to intercity trains. The closer rows of seating gave a feeling of privacy and the seats themselves feel more comfortable. The NS has a very spartan interior philosophy, while introducing some austere luxery is quite cheap and does a lot.
About cancelled trains, I have some experience with trains in Belgium. In Belgium when a train is cancelled for the day, they use a term which seems quite permanent to us Dutchies. In Belgium they use the word 'afgeschaft'. 'Afgeschaft' to the Dutch means that something is permanently cancelled. I was so surprised when I was at Antwerp Central and heard that announcement. Beautiful station btw, Antwerpen Centraal. I was annoyed once on a German train. We got back from a convention in Germany and because our train got cancelled, we were allowed to board an ICE and we sat down with our stuff in the bistro cart. It was May 4th! So after crossing the Dutch border, 20:00, the memorial, came around and it was announced in multiple languages and the train would stop. We sat silently of course when some other passenger ordered a coffee at the bar...... So that machine was going during the 2 minutes of silence... Some bar tender didn't get the memo obviously.....
Buncharted mentioning NJB - 🤯 Great info and stats! Fun episode for an anti car dependency geek. Crazy fact: if I were to go into my assigned work office, it would take over 2 hours by public transportation (2 light rail and 2 bus transfers) vs. 35-45 minute commute (but a STRESSFUL commute)
Het maakt nogal uit waar je woont. Als je in de Randstad woont en een klein beetje geluk hebt dat plekken waar je moet zijn in de buurt van stations liggen, dan is het OV vaak prima, maar daar woont maar ⅓ van het land. Het treinverkeer is nu ook kut doordat het spoor elke 40 jaar vervangen moet worden en het nu ± 2×40 jaar na de oorlog is. Ik moet twee keer overstappen en op beide stations zijn ze nu bezig.
Dordrecht to Schiphol is a one-seat ride if you just take the normal IC to Lelystad via Schiphol, and just ignore the high speed line. Also, "Wiener" is actually a German word wich litterally means "Vienese" (EN: Vienna/GE: Wien). However in this context it refers to comparing someone's bits to Vienna Sausages (wich are refered to in Austria as Frankfurter sausages, wich are diffrent to German Frankfurter sausages, because nothing can be simple). In German speaking countries often name food items after places like Hamburger or Berliner, kinda like the Sandwich in England.
Why people still drive cars in the Netherlands..well...I get a bit anoyed that people say, Wow in the Netherlands you don't need a car to get somewhere. All the video's I watched It's always people that live in a big city (Amsterdam, Rottedam, Den Haag, Utrecht) and go to another big city.. The smaller the city the worser the OV (=public transportation) gets...Yeah, if time is no problem you can get at a lot of places. But work home, NO...Biggest problem is that at a lot of industial places there's like zero OV...Like me, 15 minutes with car, 60 minutes with electric bicycle..OV about 1,5 hour.. So if you can live without a car, thumps up, a lot of people in the Netherlands can not...
I have low income. I can't afford neither. People who praise the netherlands have a decent income and forget about people with lower incomes. It sucks.
@@theothertonydutch absoluut waar , mijn vader zegt altijd, teveel mensen hebben het nog altijd te goed in nl... daarom verandert er niks ten goede voor mensen met minder inkomen
I remember the coffee/snack carts. And the coffee was considered to be quite good. Growing up we didn't have a car so we depended much on buses and trains to get out of town. Early nineties my dad also got his drivers licence and we got a Citroën BX with a spoiler on the back. Hydrolic suspension!
A round trip to my work is 24 euros 🤯 that’s about 500 euros if I went to work 5 days a week. The trains AND train stations are nasty now compared to before. I remember the drink on the train service! Students with coffee and tea ‘backpacks’ (I feel like many students had it as a side job 😆)
I thought the NS paid the Dutch government about €250 million a year for use of the rail infrastructure and €90 million for the high speed rail infrastructure. And they get a subsidy of only €13 million a year from the government. So NS pays more to the government than it gets from the government. This is the reason why train travel is so expensive in The Netherlands.
when I move outside of my regular commute, sometimes NS trains will be cheaper than Conexxion buses between Hoofddorp and Amsterdam (without the subscription), so I'll end up choosing based on how much I feel like walking and if the 1-2 euro difference is worth the hassle.
@@GuyDeaux then consider me corrected. I wonder if government intervention would be the right choice to be honest. I'm all for small government and more free markets.
Payment systems for public transportation here have always been convenient. Before the OV chipkaart came around, we had train tickets for the NS trains and 'strippenkaarten' to use on buses, tram, metro etc. The 'strippenkaart' was a kind of prepaid system. You bought a strippenkaart and when you entered the bus in front, you'd tell the driver where you're going and he would place a date and time stamp under the number of zones you were to be travelling. And there were two types: the blue was full price and available in 15 and 45 'strippen' (strippen is also a verb in a different context, you should look that up if you're not aware yet. But I reckon you are) and a 15 strippen in pink which was at a discount for kids and elderly. Strippenkaarten could be bought at many shops, supermarkets and at railway/bus stations. Aside from OV chipkaart you can also just use a debit card which I do on the rare occasion I take a city bus into town because parking is tedious and awfully expensive in Utrecht. I prefer to use my bike, but sometimes the bus is more practical. I avoid taking public transportation for longer trips because my autistic brain can't handle the crowds for very long. Very glad to own a car. I will be attending a large event in November (no not HDCC) but people are very calm and there are no loud noises all the time because of all the animals on show (Vivarium at Autotron).
Replacing the strippenkaart system was stupid and introducing the OV chipkaart was super expensive and is low key an infringement on privacy and not always reliable.
@@theothertonydutch well, these days any device or bank card you use, leaves digital traces. That is unavoidable. What is more important is how all of this information is secured and used. I do think one card to ride them all is very convenient for the traveller.
i have used public transport to go from amsterdam to schiphol but it was a good connection but most times just have a friend drive you and will drive them when they have to fly
The Netherlands IS the most expensive country if you look at average income, average income NL : €3,658, Switzerland €5,657. The cost per KM in Switzerland is about 20% higher, so public transport in Zwitserland is cheaper.
Why do we need new trains every few years, why does everything needs to be perfect, if everything would be 25% less perfect it would still be great. I want it it be clean and reliable, the rest is just an extra, but is that extra we get maybe also overpricing the service?
Rotterdam trainstations are (in random order) Centraal station (CS) , Alexander, Noord, Zuid, Blaak, Lombardijen, and Stadion (occasianal used on matchday or concerts in the Feyenoord stadium)
Privatisation has destroyed a lot, and not only in the Netherlands, and not only railways/trains but also healhtcare, energy like elektricity and gas. As soon as stockholders are involved it goes down the drain sooner or later, because they don't want any competition.
Everything that is privatized in The Netherlands since the 90s, all went down in quality and up in prize: -Healthcare (more expensive, less covered. Efficiency, productivity, quality all didn't go up. The rise in cost can be completely attributed, to the extra layer of upper management + shareholders, that was created by privatizing of this sector). -Energy (*was there ever a power outage before the year 2000? NEVER. After 2000 I had 4 or 5, lasting several hours, up to a full day). I know it's bit spoiled, but I am just saying. -Public transport (trains, busses), became much more expensive, many lines in rural areas closed, not running on time way more often. -Postal service (did a letter ever get lost in the mail before? That was so incredible rare. After privatization, it happened all the time). But who sends letters nowadays, so time solved it😀. -Telephone (landlines) (I remember playing a game for 4.5 hours over dial-up modem with a friend, which is being on the phone for 4.5 hours, and getting billed 1 guilder= €0,44 ) Again, who even has a landline, so also solved by time 😀. -A bank called "De Postbank" (everything was free at that bank, now you pay for all kinds of services, like every commercial bank).
@@adpop750 I think people REALLY should stop comparing now vs how it used to was as it creates a very skewed picture. This is because if we compare it to how things are going in other countries where things haven't been privatised like Germany, the UK, France, etc. all those same things have also gone to shit there at roughly the same rate or have become incredibly expensive for the taxpayer. The reason for this is that we collectively, in part thanks to the euro zone, have become poorer and the modern euro has become as valuable as the gulden was in 2001 (so basically half as much). A very obvious example was the negative intrest rate set by Dragi when he was about to quit as president of the ECB (to go into Italian politics), why did he do this? So Italy could more easily loan more money and pay of their already ballooning debt more easily. And this type of shit is common with the Euro, rather than cut off countries with bad spending we tell them "stop" and then keep funding them and they keep spending as everything needs to be sacrificed in the magical "trust in the Euro". It also doesn't help a lot of stuff only was partially privatised, with the government still heavily dictating how a those "privatized" business' should function within a given sector so they can't really become more efficient without the involvement of politics. It's especially noticeable with companies that are fully private, sending a package with PostNL? ~8 euro that same package with DHL? ~5.50. And with some shipping companies it can go as low as ~4 euro if you don't mind picking it up at a pick up point. Though specifically for power outages I'd have to say for me personally, someone living in the more rural east, it has become significantly less. It went to once every one or two months to once or twice a year, often at 2AM or some time like that (probably for maintenance). And the public transport thing often ignores that car use (and multiple car ownership per household) has increased significantly since 90s, meaning less people need public transport, and that government demands bus and train lines be driving at set intervals throughout the day. If bus companies could stop driving rounds that aren't empty or close to empty 80% of the time it would make more rural routes possible again. And if it wasn't privatised those same empty buses would be paid for by the taxpayer, essentially burning money and fuel because politicians like seeing a filled bus schedule more than filled buses. Buses should really only be driving when they're actually used, not when the only person using the bus is a kid that overslept for school. But public transport in more rural area's has always been rather shit when it comes to usability, which is probably why multiple car usage per household has gone up immensely here. For example for me to use the OV to go to Zwolle takes about 40 minutes (assuming I don't miss it), by car? 15 to 20. If I need to be somewhere not near to some high density area travel time could easily go over an hour with OV while by car that doesn't really change much. And don't even think about going anywhere north or east of Zwolle, public transport has always been awful with politicians fighting against making it better in favour of building more public transport infrastructure in the Randstad. (Fuck, it toke 20+ years to make the N50 even remotely safe to drive all because national politicians didn't want to spend 200k to make it safer by putting up barriers and outright banned local business' to pay that amount to set up those barriers. The tweede kamer probably has a collective brain aneurism if they had to do anything about making it remotely safer than a high traffic 100km/h single carriageway)
5:38 Switzerland is very expensive but wages are wayyyyy higher than in the Netherlands and so is their purchasing power (much higher if you live and work there). I don’t understand why things are so expensive in the Netherlands given the wages.
I think you hit trains vs cars perfectly. With our family of 4 it is considerably cheaper to get in the van and drive to our destination than it is to take a train. Especially if we are traveling far from our city in the east. If it was just one or two of us, the train might be the same or cheaper depending on time. It's also generally much faster for us to drive to Amsterdam or Rotterdam from the east than it is to take a train. Like 1.5-2 hours faster in many cases.
Some notes: - The densest country by rail is not Switzerland, it is (funnily enough) Belgium. It has an old network and was better maintained and expanded through the 19th century than the road network (still an issue). - Service of the NS is going down through the decades. I could remember the trains with a coffee wagon, but it was scrapped already in the 90's. In the early 10's they experimented with 'Rail catering', a person with a big bag that can make coffee and tea in an instant, while selling other stuff. It died down later, because of shortage of personnel. - Service has become worse after covid, due to staff shortages again. I live in the south of the Netherlands and they cut down the trains in the weekends and in the evenings. Very annoying. To Den Bosch, there is only driving a train now once per hour. It was half an hour. If I miss my train, it is even faster to go by bike, than waiting for the next one. - Also, people have become quite more annoying and selfish after covid. Before covid, there were some people having loud noise on the headphones, but not to an annoying amount. After that, every train ride I have to ask someone to put their ear phones in. It's getting quite annoying. - I missed the discussion about the silent car. It's a part of the train reserved for quiet seating during the journey. Handy for doing silent work and reading. Also here people don't watch, read or can think properly anymore after covid, always someone calling by cellphone.
Sometime in the 1990s, the EU adopted a guideline (I think prepared by Dutch commissioner Neelie Kroes) to make the cost of rail transport transparent by requiring the member states to split up their monolithic state railways and allow other carriers on the network. (I don't bother to verify my memory.) In the Netherlands, this eventually resulted in the division of NS into the current company (passenger services, station buildings), ProRail (infrastructure, traffic control) and NS Cargo (freight services; later sold to Railion, which became DB Cargo). Passenger services that NS had no interest in were auctioned off by regional authorities on a time-limited basis. These state the requirements (frequencies, toilets in trains) and award the exploitation contracts to the lowest bidder (the company that wanted the lowest payment to run the services). A similar thing has happened to regional passenger transport. (By the way, around split-up, NS owned most companies that ran regional bus services in the Netherlands.) A recent development is that the regional authorities buy and own the rolling stock, leaving the providers with just planning and manning. (I'm not sure about maintenance.) Yes, transport fares have risen. Yet, all those rail services that were ailing under NS have seen the passengers return (to the extent of overcrowding in some cases), and the comfort of the rolling stock has been greatly improved. (Some of the regional diesel stock of NS has been sold to Poland and (from memory) Romania and Argentina.) Buses have been replaced by modern ones too, ever more of them electric (with short catenary rails at end points for charging the batteries). There happens to be a link with Switzerland: Stadler has risen from a small maker of rolling stock for the many Swiss companies to the maker of (in my view) the savior of many railways in Europe (notably including the Netherlands). It has even entered the US market (factory in Utah). It has become increasingly feasible for children to attend education at quite a distance from home and travel by themselves using public transport, likely with their bikes parked at a bus stop. No, public transport in the Netherlands is not at all perfect. Yet it may well be on its way to further improvement when staff shortages have been solved. And when infrastructure improvements will be (closer to being) completed By the way, freight transport by rail has also grown. However, most of it is limited to a few connections. All operators (some 35) are required to pay for using the tracks (also for parking) and for the electricity or fuel used.
I moved here from the States 13 years ago and I have watched the national train system decline steadily. I traveled a little bit by train, but its cheaper to drive to Amsterdam for me than take the train (I am on the east side of NL - You visited my town once). The cost of a ticket has gone up every year and for a mode of transportation that they want you to use (to save the environment), they dont make it friendly to your wallet.
I use the card machine to load my subscription I use for the bus. Although the OV is definitely getting worse, all the bus drivers I talk to when I take the bus to work 5 days a week. Prices are going up and are ridiculously expensive. I take 30/40 to get to work, but when I miss a bus I need to wait 15 for the next one, on weekends that's 30 or 40 minutes. As much as I love taking the bus and I can afford it I'll use the OV. But all in all it's worse that using the car (which I don't have btw).
Nederlands: Maastricht, Aken, Luik Duits: Maastricht, Aachen, Lüttich Frans: Maestricht, Aix-la-Chapelle, Liège I was born and raised in Maastricht. What a nice city!
Train vs car: 1) Car you get in at your house, you get out at your destination, at ANY time of day or night. So yes, a car is more convenient. 2) Cost: If you already own a car (which many people do). Traveling solo, car is more expensive. Traveling with 2 or more people in the car, the car is cheaper. 3) Traveling time. Between cities about the same. Train probably faster during rush hour between cities. If you need to be anywhere else than a city, the car is much faster. That is because traveling to the train station and from the trainstation to the final destination takes a lot of time. An example: from my house, at a 10 minute walk from the trainstation (in a city with 170k people) to my sisters house 20 min walk from her trainstation (in a town with 45k people). Takes 2 hours for the train. Cost €22,34 (one way ticket) (up to 40% discounts I would use trains regularly). Total time house to house about 2,5 hours - costs (22,34 and 13,41 with discounts). I already own a car, insurance, tax etc. is already paid for, whether I drive or not. Car 65 mins drive - costs 86 km distance = € 11 in gas, there is wear and tear, so lets make it €20. So much faster, solo about the same costs, with 2 people the car is much cheaper. And all this is during daytime and not in a really rural area, so quite optimal for the train (i also didn't use public transport from and to the trainstations, because that would raise costs and walking is faster than the bus. I mean 5 min walk to busstation, waiting 5 mins for the bus, paying, 5 min bus-drive, when I can walk in 10 mins).
Taking the car ownership out of the equation is not correct. A car is a write off , maintenance, insurance item where you pay for every day if you use it or not. You can not simply calculate simply only the fuel costs. (I take the car to the train station, 4.5km is a bit far to walk timewise.)
Hi trainfan here, though I do still have a car, maybe not for long anymore. About the rise of car ownership: don't forget people's lives and certainly their childrens have become much busier. With crazy schedules it's easier to drop off the kids with a car, especially when the train station is not around the corner and faster than getting on a bus. Children used to cycle more to their sports and hobbys and so, but they are (I think too) busy bees nowadays..And with less stay at home moms it's easier to get two cars also. Most of those people can afford it.
Government (say they) wants people to take (more) public transit, but at the same time keep prices high and cut on public transit lines (for busses). That's also why you looking for the tipping point of when to take de OV and when to take a car. Visit e.g. Hungary. The price of the bus is so low, that cars are always to expensive. And busses also do drive frequently. If Government organize (and subsidiase) OV in the Netherlands that way, you would be a fool to not take the OV on longer trajects!
Yay more bunchatted 😁 Are you guys on a weekly upload schedule now? And just an observation, but it might help get more views if you put the word podcast in the title along with the name 😅 Really enjoying these longer videos. Keep it up!
The Dutch OV, in the Zuid Limburg, Aken, Luik/Liège route, only works until Aachen/Aken, in Germany you would need other tickets if you want to use the public transport there. Or a Dutch bus that goes over the "border", probably even a German bus, as long as it goes over the border.
Funny you should mention several train stations in a city. They are planning to build a new station between Dordrecht and Dordrecht Zuid. It is supposed to be built in the school district called 'Leerpark'. (meaning Learning Park, not Leather Park😏), on the street called 'Max Goote laan' (look it up). Can you imagine that? The drive from Dordrecht to Zuid is only a few minutes! And the only reason they want a station there is because the buses between Dordrecht station and the Leerpark are always overcrowded with students. Also, did you know there are several large towns that don't have a train station? I believe Amstelveen (does have tram-connection to Amsterdam), Uden and Oosterhout are the largest three. And finally, the OV-Chipcard. It is convenient when you travel a lot. For people that don't travel a lot with public transport, they can also tap in and out with their debit- or creditcard now. This only works if you don't need a frequent travel pass or off-peak discount pass, and in the train it is only for second class travel. The advantage for people who do not use public transport much is that you don't have to top-up an amount you never fully use, like on the OV-Chipcard. (for instance, a trainride from Dordrecht to Rotterdam is about 5 euro's, but your OV chipcard needs to have a minimum of 20 euro's on it if you want to travel by train).
The costs of owning a car very much depend on the type of car and the owner. I mean, I drive a 2014 Suzuki Alto, which is a relatively small and lightweight car. It is economical with fuel and maintenance is inexpensive compared to many other cars (and Japanese cars are built solid and dependable). I mean, my parents drive a Citroën which has issues a couple of times a year. I have only had a wheel baring changed last year. The car is 10 years old! Granted, my parents have way more kilometers on their car than mine does. Road taxes is the cheapest rate and it is also fairly inexpensive in insurance. Plus, I haven't caused any damage since I started driving which adds up a discount. If you ever decide to start driving in The Netherlands, I recommend taking lessons even if you don't require to pass a test here. Driving in The Netherlands is quite different from driving in the USA and especially if you haven't driven for a couple of years, it's very useful to get back into it. And then buy a small second hand car from a Bovag certified dealership. I also once bought a car, Suzuki Alto previous generation, from a family and got around 6 years out of that one. It was a good deal and I already knew what to look for since it's predecessor was the exact same model and colour. I'm on my third Suzuki Alto, but this 2014 model has airconditioning. 🥰 If you look at the country side, public transportation in rural areas is often minimal. My parents even owned two cars for a while. But they're both retired now and one car is enough. They live in a village in Drenthe where a bus comes through only a few times a day and it's mostly used by school teenagers.
For the longest time, I took public transportation, and in those days-we're talking 70s and 80s here-it was a long walk and sometimes delayed bus and/or metro which could be a bummer but, overall, it was nice and cheap. And then there's the weather but that's another story altogether.
This past weekend i had too take the last train home. When i stepped into the train i was greeted by a puddle of vomit... Lesson learned, don't ride the train in the ADE weekend, if you don't enjoy being surrounded by a bunch of high kites 😂
not sure if you will mention it later (I just started to listen) but did you know that when a train is 30 minutes late and you have an ov chipcard you can ask part of your ticketprice back, you just have to do it online.
Got rid of mij car 4 years ago. Being a pensioner now I didn't need my car so much anymore. Living in Rotterdam Charlois, we have a choice of busses and trams to get you to a major hub or destination. Just use the routeplanner from NS or local transport. For a visit to my mother, who lives a long walk from a busstop, I rent an, elerctric, car wich is parked just around the corner. Average costs come,depending or your subscription, at about €0,95 per kilometer or cheaper depending what car you have used. Greenwheelz is also a part of NS so you will allways need an OV card plus an online reservation to use them. A very easy way, not cheap, to get acces to car for getting you to places not far. BTW, I'm 70 and I don't walk so good anymore
Vroeger reed met met een catering-karretje door de trein. Ze verkochten koffie, thee, limonade en gevulde koeken. Die karretjes waren de reden dat de koploper is ontworpen. De catering kon zo gedurende de rit van de ene naar de andere treinstel lopen.
Topic notwithstanding, it's nice to see a new video of yours. I hope you're both doing ok. I go back far enough to remember when NS toilets not only didn't flush, but were merely a hole to the tracks below. So you'll forgive me if I disagree with the "It used to be so much better" crowd. I do miss the snack carts on the trains and the old guys selling coffee on the platforms though.
In German it is Aachen, in Dutch it is Aken. It is true one can ride to Aken with the OV but not to Luik Belgium you need to have a valid ticket, so you can use it up to the Belgian border, from then on you would need a valid ticket for the rest of the journey.
It has not been great for a decade or more. it might be better for people with worse trains etc. But for me , living outside the randstad area its always been: not many busses, no direct lines. Even in a top 8 city of netherlands we need to transfer in other stations to get where. And so many times that trains are late, do not drive etc.
Why do people buy tickets rather than tap in/out? May want 1st Class, or may be going beyond Dutch border. Automated barriers are for Standard Class single tickets within Netherlands only. (Agreed, 1st class is not really worth the extra cost.) Or may be changing operator mid-journey (eg NS to Arriva at Leeuwarden when going between Harlingen and Rotterdam) and cannot remember to tap twice in Leeuwarden (it happened to me once but the inspector took pity on a visiting Englishman who suddenly and conveniently forgot how to speak Dutch!).
Lul is not that offensive. Especially if you use it in a funny way. We're not that sensitive here 😉 At least I'm not... Also a variation is 'lullen' as a verb, which means talking 😂
Punctuality is an issue with the trains. The old flush on the rails toilets were even more disgusting. Also some long distance journeys take longer than in the 1970s. A lot of people have a company supplied public transport subscription. This morning I went to Utrecht via Arnhem because of my train had a smoking undercarriage at Apeldoorn. the next direct train was jam packed. NS does not run the ov chip card companies. That is really complicated. I found out when I had a lost card or when getting money back.
I never owned a car, I don't even have a driver's license and I'm still alive. I think the OV has gotten a bit better in the sense that I could take a later train home then I used to after a concert in Amsterdam without stranding somewhere along the way. After the concert of Janet Jackson I nearly stranded though in Den Bosch because the train in Amsterdam had a delay so I would miss my connecting train but lucky the next and last train home waited at the platform so we could still get in just fine. But on the downside it's getting more expensive and I totally get some people cannot afford it anymore.
NS and Prorail has a policy to hold trains if its the last service of the day, so in case of a delayed connecting train they will wait for eachother to provide the transfer. The downside is that other trains also get delayed but its much beter than let your customers stranded at station or have to reboot them om taxi's to get home
@@jessecruzu Ohh that's good to know.. One time I stranded in Den Bosch from Amsterdam because of delays, defect train, a person jumping, took me 3+ hours to get to Den Bosch and then NS was busy getting an extra train to Den Bosch to get all stranded passengers home but that would take at least more then an hour and I was so tired so I called someone to please pick me up.
I travel by train for work every day. it's a 45 minute trip, so not that long I think.. A route card for me is roughly 300 euro's per month. (from which I don't even get back half from my employer) so instead of opting for that I decided to go for the subscription where i can just always travel with any train for "free" in the country, because that is only 50 euro's more expensive. I can definitely understand people thinking the train is too expensive. They are. It would be cheaper for me to go by car than by train. But for me I really enjoy the freedom to just sit and stare at my phone for an hour in the morning instead of driving morning traffic for 1.5+ hours. And it's much better for the environment. I hope that at some point the national government will decide to invest in it and make trains a reasonable rate. I think that would help a lot in getting more people to use it.
In my opinion one of the reasons for the car ownership going up is that a lot more women are working these days. So they have to get to work as well. And getting to work by public transport is not always the best option (to put it mildley) when you live in the more rural areas. So let's say a 25 km commute by bicycle through the wind and rain or in a heated car, dry, music on, picking up the kids and or groceries on your way home..... Not a hard decision if you were to ask me 😉🤣🤣
Of course the density of the German railway system is a bit cheating as the local rail system around cities (always a very dense system) is run by DB and included in the total rail system. In the Netherlands these are run by local transport systems (example Rotterdam) and not included in the railroad density. Also verify that density is not limited to NS only. Many ignore the other operators. Another measurement is the average distance of the population to a railway station or public transit stop. This favors density populated countries like the Netherlands.
People love to complain, but the weekend off subscription is actually great. If you take just one round-trip during a month you usually already get your money's worth. If i need to take a large trip on a weekend I'll turn the subscription on, so I can have some more "free trips" the rest of the month. Also for pretty much everyone with a career job, the employer will pay for public transport costs. Never had to pay for the train for work in my entire life. I feel like a lot of people gloss over this and dont fully appreciate it. Even if I don't live in the city anymore, I still don't really need a car. People are just lazy and like to complain. I didn't even mention the deal culture yet. Much like with certain beauty products you can get deals on day trips which are very affordable. But you need to know where to look and plan in advance
@@MarcelVolker Dat zou kunnen dat het alleen streekvervoer was. Ik ben van het Zuiden, dus het kringlooptreintje zegt mij niks. Doch herinner ik me wel nog de stempelautomaten op de treinstations. En hoe het werkte met de strippenkaart vouwen naar het juiste aantal strippen en in de stempel automaat duwen. Zo was het ook normaal in de bus om aan te geven hoeveel strippen, ipv welke halte.
As someone who works behind the scenes. Altoughh valid is some criticism , for the other percentage, is my opinion , ,we are busy with giving more and more world beating service, Dont shit on us , 8 basically sort out alot of the weekend stremmingen across the land here,
Practical point here: Why don't you put the microphones BEHIND the people? You can even attach the microphones to the rack cabinet and lay the cables on the ground!
@@buncharted2 I have subscribed to buncharted and buncharted2. Because I love to see (you) people 🙂 I don't know where to look for the podcast, and ... (and in very fine print) I would not listen to the podcast. It already takes me too long. I'm that guy who told you (in the comments of your first podcast), you could do the podcast in 30 minutes, too. But, keep up the good work. I love your videos and there are many people that lpve these podcasts too 🙂
Same! The only unfortunate thing sometimes is when people in the silent cabin arent silent😅 recently I had to inform people that they are in fact in the silent cabin 4 times in one train ride
Ik heb een auto voor lange afstanden en grote dingen en binnen mijn stad gebruik ik een snorbrommer,en ik ga niet veel buiten de stad dus daarom een goedkope auto ook in verbruik 9ik wel eens in de 3 a 4 weken naar Duitsland) en ja ach mijn brommer moet eens in de 2 weken een liter benzine in en daar doe ik dus mijn boodschappen mee en ga naar afspraken of familie.
@@buncharted2 My problem is I'd only go there 3 times a year to pick up my girlfriend from the Airport. Which also means I'll be dropping her off as well doubling the cost. I guess I could get a subscription for one month and then cancel it, if that is a possibility. The place I live also does not have a train station since I live up north which also means I have to take the bus which costs another 12 euros for a return. Without a subscription the trip would cost me 125,22 euros. With a subscription, excluding the card which costs 7,50, I will be paying 91,30. Which is still just a lot of money spent extra. Obviously I'll do it, I have to. I just wish it were cheaper. Hopefully in 40 years they will build the Lelylijn reducing the travel time and the cost. :') I'm definitely getting a subscription for it. It's just still a lot of money. I guess for a lot of people that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but she's a student and I currently cannot work so because of the situation it's quite a high base cost just to see each other. Obviously we're happy to pay for it. It's just money.
@@urbandiscount It would be, however of that over 60 euros I included the bus ticket which is not included in the NS Dagkaart. I will have to get a subscription for one month every time I go to schiphol.
Public transport? Which public transport? Living my life in the north and the east seeing public transport is something special almost. I don’t use it. Last time I went anywhere with public transport is more than 5 years ago. And that was because I knew I had to go to the jaarbeurs Utrecht next to the station. I had to drive to a train station to be able to go by train 😝🤣. So, no, you can’t live without a car, impossible!
What is the busiest railway network in Europe? The Dutch rail network The Dutch rail network is Europe's busiest. And it will only become busier. Passenger transport has increased, and both passenger and freight transport are expected to increase over the next few years as well. That is why railway companies indicate that they are concerned about rail capacity.
It's a bit of a false statement saying that car ownership is going up (per household 0,8 to 1,1). The reason for THAT is that young people need a car as they always did, but a lot more are living longer with their parents because they cannot afford to buy property because of the extortianate house prices. Then of course the number of cars per household is going to rise. The number of car owners has risen too !
Owww Dutch trains... where to begin. Since privatization numerous maintenance workshops for trains have disappeared (Zwolle and Amersfoort come to mind but there are more), this leads to lower standards and more cancellations. Service has... plundered. Honestly if I drop something edible I would expect it lost so dirty have these trains gotten. It shows a lack of respect to travelers and personnel and it is something that really, really pisses me of. The OV chipkaart is really useful but I am convinced NS sees it as a means to cut on 'conducteur' costs, not all train stations have 'gates' (and those that do can easily be jumped if you want) but the chances that there is a dedicated 'conducteur' on your specific trip has dropped immensely the last 20 years (another service issue). Privatization has lead to some routes being serviced by others than NS, but the main network is still NS. There is no real competition, so why did we privatize? Also there is NS and Prorail, on paper the division between these 2 works in practice they blame each other for delays and cancellations.... ifs a fucking nightmare. I think I can keep going, about dirty trains or new and old material being issued to late or retired to early etc etc... And all this from a Dutchie in his early 30s that really, really loves trains, just the way it is handled right now (and the last 20 years) is infuriating. As a last addendum, yes the trains (mostly) work. But we shouldn't strive for just enough or just slightly more convenient then cars in practicality or price. We should strive for perfection, the fact that Japan can do it means it is possible so why should be except this... mediocrity
I hate public transportation, always did. But that has to do with the fact I live in Zeeland, and public transportation there is dreadful (except for the line Goes-Middelburg-Vlissingen). And I don't like being cramped up with a lot of people in a train, tram, metro or bus. Which happens when you take the OV to and from work. I work in Rotterdam, and by car it takes 45 minutes to get to work. By public transport it would take me 2 hours. So my choice is pretty obvious. The quality of the OV in The Netherlands has declined in the past years, mainly because the costs of using and maintaining it. As a result, a lot of (especially) bus lines have been terminated, leaving a lot of people to resort to a car, or friends/family or a taxi to get them to hospital for example. So it may seem very positive on the surface, but when you dig a little bit deeper, there are a lot of cons.
Ik ontdek dat ik steeds blijf wachten op het onderdeel 'Raad het woord'. Overigens is L-woord ook een afkorting van een avangarde punkband uit de jaren tachtig: Lui Uit Leeuwarden ua-cam.com/video/oEyBCBzHnBs/v-deo.html
I'd say 'penis' is a very clinical term used to objectively describe the male part. 'Piemel' feels a little bit less heavy and serious, but not offensive at all (how could it when it sounds like that); it's a more kid-friendly version. And 'lul' is pretty much exclusively used as slang or as an insult in my experience.
Well…according to my information the lul is not that exclusive in its usage, sometime it’s invasive at others it releasing and then there’s the infamous and untranslatable swaffelen…..😂😂😂😂
Cancellations of the trains is due to 2 reasons. The rare one is material failure, the common one is accidents of which a large portion is suicides. They don't want to "advertise" the latter.
Owning a car is waaaaay cheaper for me. Trains are only okay when its paid for you by government or work. Old people, kids, students and commuters use trains. Its all -at least partially - being paid for by the collective
I have to clear something up. I am a native Dutchman. The only people who use public transit every single day are either: tourists, expats, people that're afraid to drive, are too poor to own or buy a car, students and climate activists. I literally, aside from people who are in the upper listed categories, know no one who doesn't just drive to the grocery store every day, or goes to work with their car every day. It's still a very normal thing to own a car here and use it for mondane tasks- and annually it's actually cheaper too believe it or not. The idea that because our public transit is so well organized and that no one drives a car here and simply just uses public transit is an urban legend and an exaggerated half truth.
Nahh I think that's a bit of an exageration. I grew up in a small countryside village where you kinda 'need' a car and people still go out of their way to use public transport, even though there is only one bus which goes every 30 minutes during peak hours and every hour during off-peak hours. Not everyone wants to sit in trafic during rush hour & that way you can actually get work done on the way. Also, not all workplaces offer good parking facilities. And for daily groceries you take the bike. If you're able to go to the grocery store everyday and still feel like you need to take the car, that's just a strange choice in my opinion (unless you have a good reason, like a handicap or something). If you only do weekly shopping then it obviously makes sense to take the car. Conclusion: Most people use a combination of bike, car, and OV depending on the specific situation.
We have shitty public transit in my town, but when I go out in Amsterdam, I take the bus so I can drink alcohol. The last bus back goes at 23.40, but in the weekend (Fri-Sat and Sat-Sun) there is a nightbus every hour. That’s a service I use, otherwise I hardly take public traffic. I take the car to work, and sometimes I park my car at the nearest station, which is 20min by car away. But only when I go to a city center of Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam, Gouda etc. because parking is expensive there.
I'm 47, have a pretty good job in IT in a different city than my own, am only mildly for eco-friendlyness above comfort, have my license and love driving. I literally do not own a car because the public transport is so good. Also, don't forget that our petrol/gasoline is among the most expensive in the world and that cars are quite heavily taxed as well. And don't get me started on parking costs in a lot of places. If you can even find a spot; my neighborhood supposedly has about 97% utilization of parking spaces in the evenings (and I wonder how they ever found 3% empty). But I am single, live in a big city near grerat public transport with my job also directly next to public transport, and my commute would take about as long either way in peak hours (and about the same by bike as well), so I am definitely not your average Dutch person. Or maybe I am just the living embodyment of the carless unicorn. 😉
I don't know if your Dutch is good enough yet to follow this sketch (from 1977) by the Klisjeemannetjes (van Kooten & de Bie), but it should definitely improve your knowledge of Dutch slang: ua-cam.com/video/yCt_8o7vv8E/v-deo.htmlsi=VjAB7O2MnE4iD4iU
Jullie beginnen al echte Nederlanders te worden. Wat een klaagzang ;)
Van vandale: Je hebt gezocht op het woord: Klaagzang.
klaag·zang (de; m; meervoud: klaagzangen)
1
treurige zang waarin over iemand of iets wordt geklaagd; = treurdicht, elegie
2
langdurig geklaag: altijd die klaagzangen over het weer!
We are in a negative spiral with NS. Less people take the train, prices are increased to cover the costs, even less people take the train
yeah. the govt should step in (more), i think. people need to come back to make this whole thing work
@@buncharted2 they also forget the rural area's in the north and south east, less busses, less trains etc it used to be much better. Even employers dont cover like the car parking to get to a train station. The car parking almost costs as much as a a week of benzine to get to work...
@@buncharted2 Lower the prices or give us a good deal and we'll come back! I used to work for Arriva and the amount of people that couldn't afford a train ticket or a train ticket for their child has increased a lot over the past 3,5 years. I've given up on expecting NS or really any of these companies to fix their issues at this point. They aren't gonna prove us wrong I fear.
Piemel - weiner
Pik - dick
Lul - cock
... I guess?
@@buncharted2 What government? We barely have a government.
I can tell you that trains today are much more comfortable than in the 70's and 80's when we still had those "hondekop" trains.
And smoking cars 🙃
@@Iamsanni You mean the single designated non-smoking half of a car I asume, bcause *all* the others had ashtrays.
I do find that the NS' recent decisions on interior design are quite bad. The ICR carriages used on the IC Direct are much more comfortable than the ICNG that is replacing them. While the sprinters are somewhat better now than they were in the past, I do find that there is a regression when it comes to intercity trains. The closer rows of seating gave a feeling of privacy and the seats themselves feel more comfortable. The NS has a very spartan interior philosophy, while introducing some austere luxery is quite cheap and does a lot.
About cancelled trains, I have some experience with trains in Belgium. In Belgium when a train is cancelled for the day, they use a term which seems quite permanent to us Dutchies. In Belgium they use the word 'afgeschaft'. 'Afgeschaft' to the Dutch means that something is permanently cancelled. I was so surprised when I was at Antwerp Central and heard that announcement. Beautiful station btw, Antwerpen Centraal.
I was annoyed once on a German train. We got back from a convention in Germany and because our train got cancelled, we were allowed to board an ICE and we sat down with our stuff in the bistro cart. It was May 4th! So after crossing the Dutch border, 20:00, the memorial, came around and it was announced in multiple languages and the train would stop. We sat silently of course when some other passenger ordered a coffee at the bar...... So that machine was going during the 2 minutes of silence... Some bar tender didn't get the memo obviously.....
Buncharted mentioning NJB - 🤯 Great info and stats! Fun episode for an anti car dependency geek. Crazy fact: if I were to go into my assigned work office, it would take over 2 hours by public transportation (2 light rail and 2 bus transfers) vs. 35-45 minute commute (but a STRESSFUL commute)
Het maakt nogal uit waar je woont.
Als je in de Randstad woont en een klein beetje geluk hebt dat plekken waar je moet zijn in de buurt van stations liggen, dan is het OV vaak prima, maar daar woont maar ⅓ van het land.
Het treinverkeer is nu ook kut doordat het spoor elke 40 jaar vervangen moet worden en het nu ± 2×40 jaar na de oorlog is.
Ik moet twee keer overstappen en op beide stations zijn ze nu bezig.
Leuk feitje over die 40 jaar, nooit geweten en nooit gelezen behalve dat onderhoud natuurlijk noodzakelijk is.
Dordrecht to Schiphol is a one-seat ride if you just take the normal IC to Lelystad via Schiphol, and just ignore the high speed line.
Also, "Wiener" is actually a German word wich litterally means "Vienese" (EN: Vienna/GE: Wien). However in this context it refers to comparing someone's bits to Vienna Sausages (wich are refered to in Austria as Frankfurter sausages, wich are diffrent to German Frankfurter sausages, because nothing can be simple). In German speaking countries often name food items after places like Hamburger or Berliner, kinda like the Sandwich in England.
Why people still drive cars in the Netherlands..well...I get a bit anoyed that people say, Wow in the Netherlands you don't need a car to get somewhere. All the video's I watched It's always people that live in a big city (Amsterdam, Rottedam, Den Haag, Utrecht) and go to another big city.. The smaller the city the worser the OV (=public transportation) gets...Yeah, if time is no problem you can get at a lot of places. But work home, NO...Biggest problem is that at a lot of industial places there's like zero OV...Like me, 15 minutes with car, 60 minutes with electric bicycle..OV about 1,5 hour.. So if you can live without a car, thumps up, a lot of people in the Netherlands can not...
Yesss
I have low income. I can't afford neither. People who praise the netherlands have a decent income and forget about people with lower incomes. It sucks.
@@theothertonydutch absoluut waar , mijn vader zegt altijd, teveel mensen hebben het nog altijd te goed in nl... daarom verandert er niks ten goede voor mensen met minder inkomen
you do not need it. you might need to take 4 times the time it would take by car to get there but you can get there
@@rubenjanssen8491 so 3 hours a day only for getting to work and back home is normal for you ?..
I remember the coffee/snack carts. And the coffee was considered to be quite good. Growing up we didn't have a car so we depended much on buses and trains to get out of town. Early nineties my dad also got his drivers licence and we got a Citroën BX with a spoiler on the back. Hydrolic suspension!
A round trip to my work is 24 euros 🤯 that’s about 500 euros if I went to work 5 days a week. The trains AND train stations are nasty now compared to before. I remember the drink on the train service! Students with coffee and tea ‘backpacks’ (I feel like many students had it as a side job 😆)
I thought the NS paid the Dutch government about €250 million a year for use of the rail infrastructure and €90 million for the high speed rail infrastructure. And they get a subsidy of only €13 million a year from the government. So NS pays more to the government than it gets from the government. This is the reason why train travel is so expensive in The Netherlands.
I really appreciate all the background research and stats
when I move outside of my regular commute, sometimes NS trains will be cheaper than Conexxion buses between Hoofddorp and Amsterdam (without the subscription), so I'll end up choosing based on how much I feel like walking and if the 1-2 euro difference is worth the hassle.
The OV Chipkaart is run by a separate company: Trans Link Systems BV. They take care of paying the various transport companies.
Public transit is going downhill since the state privatised it. In fact, every public service is going downhill because of that.
No more communism
So the leftists in the boards of direction can have higher salaries and bonusses..
@@GuyDeaux NS has always been a private company. The state only determines the taxes per ticket.
@@DensityDennis that's partialy true. When it was founded in 1938 it was a semi-governmental company. In 1995 it became a private company.
@@GuyDeaux then consider me corrected. I wonder if government intervention would be the right choice to be honest. I'm all for small government and more free markets.
As you guys have been in every corner of the country, can you as foreigners distinguish between the different dialects and slang?
The three houses are in Doorn, very close to where I used to live. Apparently it was 'unintentional'.
Payment systems for public transportation here have always been convenient. Before the OV chipkaart came around, we had train tickets for the NS trains and 'strippenkaarten' to use on buses, tram, metro etc. The 'strippenkaart' was a kind of prepaid system. You bought a strippenkaart and when you entered the bus in front, you'd tell the driver where you're going and he would place a date and time stamp under the number of zones you were to be travelling. And there were two types: the blue was full price and available in 15 and 45 'strippen' (strippen is also a verb in a different context, you should look that up if you're not aware yet. But I reckon you are) and a 15 strippen in pink which was at a discount for kids and elderly. Strippenkaarten could be bought at many shops, supermarkets and at railway/bus stations.
Aside from OV chipkaart you can also just use a debit card which I do on the rare occasion I take a city bus into town because parking is tedious and awfully expensive in Utrecht. I prefer to use my bike, but sometimes the bus is more practical. I avoid taking public transportation for longer trips because my autistic brain can't handle the crowds for very long. Very glad to own a car. I will be attending a large event in November (no not HDCC) but people are very calm and there are no loud noises all the time because of all the animals on show (Vivarium at Autotron).
Replacing the strippenkaart system was stupid and introducing the OV chipkaart was super expensive and is low key an infringement on privacy and not always reliable.
@@theothertonydutch well, these days any device or bank card you use, leaves digital traces. That is unavoidable. What is more important is how all of this information is secured and used.
I do think one card to ride them all is very convenient for the traveller.
i have used public transport to go from amsterdam to schiphol but it was a good connection but most times just have a friend drive you and will drive them when they have to fly
The Netherlands IS the most expensive country if you look at average income, average income NL : €3,658, Switzerland €5,657.
The cost per KM in Switzerland is about 20% higher, so public transport in Zwitserland is cheaper.
Why do we need new trains every few years, why does everything needs to be perfect, if everything would be 25% less perfect it would still be great.
I want it it be clean and reliable, the rest is just an extra, but is that extra we get maybe also overpricing the service?
Rotterdam trainstations are (in random order) Centraal station (CS) , Alexander, Noord, Zuid, Blaak, Lombardijen, and Stadion (occasianal used on matchday or concerts in the Feyenoord stadium)
Interessant.
Privatisation has destroyed a lot, and not only in the Netherlands, and not only railways/trains but also healhtcare,
energy like elektricity and gas.
As soon as stockholders are involved it goes down the drain sooner or later, because they don't want any competition.
Amen it ruined every good thing about the netherlands... healthcare is really messed up the most at the moment... its a titanic
Remember: When governments think that basic needs are supposed to be part of a free market economy, you're fucked.
Everything that is privatized in The Netherlands since the 90s, all went down in quality and up in prize:
-Healthcare (more expensive, less covered. Efficiency, productivity, quality all didn't go up. The rise in cost can be completely attributed, to the extra layer of upper management + shareholders, that was created by privatizing of this sector).
-Energy (*was there ever a power outage before the year 2000? NEVER. After 2000 I had 4 or 5, lasting several hours, up to a full day). I know it's bit spoiled, but I am just saying.
-Public transport (trains, busses), became much more expensive, many lines in rural areas closed, not running on time way more often.
-Postal service (did a letter ever get lost in the mail before? That was so incredible rare. After privatization, it happened all the time). But who sends letters nowadays, so time solved it😀.
-Telephone (landlines) (I remember playing a game for 4.5 hours over dial-up modem with a friend, which is being on the phone for 4.5 hours, and getting billed 1 guilder= €0,44 ) Again, who even has a landline, so also solved by time 😀.
-A bank called "De Postbank" (everything was free at that bank, now you pay for all kinds of services, like every commercial bank).
It has been privatised but then it has been regulated in such a way that competition is not really possible.
@@adpop750 I think people REALLY should stop comparing now vs how it used to was as it creates a very skewed picture. This is because if we compare it to how things are going in other countries where things haven't been privatised like Germany, the UK, France, etc. all those same things have also gone to shit there at roughly the same rate or have become incredibly expensive for the taxpayer. The reason for this is that we collectively, in part thanks to the euro zone, have become poorer and the modern euro has become as valuable as the gulden was in 2001 (so basically half as much). A very obvious example was the negative intrest rate set by Dragi when he was about to quit as president of the ECB (to go into Italian politics), why did he do this? So Italy could more easily loan more money and pay of their already ballooning debt more easily. And this type of shit is common with the Euro, rather than cut off countries with bad spending we tell them "stop" and then keep funding them and they keep spending as everything needs to be sacrificed in the magical "trust in the Euro".
It also doesn't help a lot of stuff only was partially privatised, with the government still heavily dictating how a those "privatized" business' should function within a given sector so they can't really become more efficient without the involvement of politics. It's especially noticeable with companies that are fully private, sending a package with PostNL? ~8 euro that same package with DHL? ~5.50. And with some shipping companies it can go as low as ~4 euro if you don't mind picking it up at a pick up point.
Though specifically for power outages I'd have to say for me personally, someone living in the more rural east, it has become significantly less. It went to once every one or two months to once or twice a year, often at 2AM or some time like that (probably for maintenance).
And the public transport thing often ignores that car use (and multiple car ownership per household) has increased significantly since 90s, meaning less people need public transport, and that government demands bus and train lines be driving at set intervals throughout the day. If bus companies could stop driving rounds that aren't empty or close to empty 80% of the time it would make more rural routes possible again. And if it wasn't privatised those same empty buses would be paid for by the taxpayer, essentially burning money and fuel because politicians like seeing a filled bus schedule more than filled buses. Buses should really only be driving when they're actually used, not when the only person using the bus is a kid that overslept for school.
But public transport in more rural area's has always been rather shit when it comes to usability, which is probably why multiple car usage per household has gone up immensely here. For example for me to use the OV to go to Zwolle takes about 40 minutes (assuming I don't miss it), by car? 15 to 20. If I need to be somewhere not near to some high density area travel time could easily go over an hour with OV while by car that doesn't really change much. And don't even think about going anywhere north or east of Zwolle, public transport has always been awful with politicians fighting against making it better in favour of building more public transport infrastructure in the Randstad.
(Fuck, it toke 20+ years to make the N50 even remotely safe to drive all because national politicians didn't want to spend 200k to make it safer by putting up barriers and outright banned local business' to pay that amount to set up those barriers. The tweede kamer probably has a collective brain aneurism if they had to do anything about making it remotely safer than a high traffic 100km/h single carriageway)
5:38 Switzerland is very expensive but wages are wayyyyy higher than in the Netherlands and so is their purchasing power (much higher if you live and work there). I don’t understand why things are so expensive in the Netherlands given the wages.
I think you hit trains vs cars perfectly. With our family of 4 it is considerably cheaper to get in the van and drive to our destination than it is to take a train. Especially if we are traveling far from our city in the east. If it was just one or two of us, the train might be the same or cheaper depending on time. It's also generally much faster for us to drive to Amsterdam or Rotterdam from the east than it is to take a train. Like 1.5-2 hours faster in many cases.
Some notes:
- The densest country by rail is not Switzerland, it is (funnily enough) Belgium. It has an old network and was better maintained and expanded through the 19th century than the road network (still an issue).
- Service of the NS is going down through the decades. I could remember the trains with a coffee wagon, but it was scrapped already in the 90's. In the early 10's they experimented with 'Rail catering', a person with a big bag that can make coffee and tea in an instant, while selling other stuff. It died down later, because of shortage of personnel.
- Service has become worse after covid, due to staff shortages again. I live in the south of the Netherlands and they cut down the trains in the weekends and in the evenings. Very annoying. To Den Bosch, there is only driving a train now once per hour. It was half an hour. If I miss my train, it is even faster to go by bike, than waiting for the next one.
- Also, people have become quite more annoying and selfish after covid. Before covid, there were some people having loud noise on the headphones, but not to an annoying amount. After that, every train ride I have to ask someone to put their ear phones in. It's getting quite annoying.
- I missed the discussion about the silent car. It's a part of the train reserved for quiet seating during the journey. Handy for doing silent work and reading. Also here people don't watch, read or can think properly anymore after covid, always someone calling by cellphone.
Sometime in the 1990s, the EU adopted a guideline (I think prepared by Dutch commissioner Neelie Kroes) to make the cost of rail transport transparent by requiring the member states to split up their monolithic state railways and allow other carriers on the network. (I don't bother to verify my memory.)
In the Netherlands, this eventually resulted in the division of NS into the current company (passenger services, station buildings), ProRail (infrastructure, traffic control) and NS Cargo (freight services; later sold to Railion, which became DB Cargo).
Passenger services that NS had no interest in were auctioned off by regional authorities on a time-limited basis. These state the requirements (frequencies, toilets in trains) and award the exploitation contracts to the lowest bidder (the company that wanted the lowest payment to run the services). A similar thing has happened to regional passenger transport. (By the way, around split-up, NS owned most companies that ran regional bus services in the Netherlands.) A recent development is that the regional authorities buy and own the rolling stock, leaving the providers with just planning and manning. (I'm not sure about maintenance.)
Yes, transport fares have risen. Yet, all those rail services that were ailing under NS have seen the passengers return (to the extent of overcrowding in some cases), and the comfort of the rolling stock has been greatly improved. (Some of the regional diesel stock of NS has been sold to Poland and (from memory) Romania and Argentina.) Buses have been replaced by modern ones too, ever more of them electric (with short catenary rails at end points for charging the batteries).
There happens to be a link with Switzerland: Stadler has risen from a small maker of rolling stock for the many Swiss companies to the maker of (in my view) the savior of many railways in Europe (notably including the Netherlands). It has even entered the US market (factory in Utah).
It has become increasingly feasible for children to attend education at quite a distance from home and travel by themselves using public transport, likely with their bikes parked at a bus stop.
No, public transport in the Netherlands is not at all perfect. Yet it may well be on its way to further improvement when staff shortages have been solved. And when infrastructure improvements will be (closer to being) completed
By the way, freight transport by rail has also grown. However, most of it is limited to a few connections.
All operators (some 35) are required to pay for using the tracks (also for parking) and for the electricity or fuel used.
I moved here from the States 13 years ago and I have watched the national train system decline steadily. I traveled a little bit by train, but its cheaper to drive to Amsterdam for me than take the train (I am on the east side of NL - You visited my town once).
The cost of a ticket has gone up every year and for a mode of transportation that they want you to use (to save the environment), they dont make it friendly to your wallet.
Went to Otterlo for the weekend. We live centrally in Rotterdam. To there and back: under 2 hours, via Ede-Wageningen and the #108 bus.
I use the card machine to load my subscription I use for the bus. Although the OV is definitely getting worse, all the bus drivers I talk to when I take the bus to work 5 days a week. Prices are going up and are ridiculously expensive. I take 30/40 to get to work, but when I miss a bus I need to wait 15 for the next one, on weekends that's 30 or 40 minutes. As much as I love taking the bus and I can afford it I'll use the OV. But all in all it's worse that using the car (which I don't have btw).
Nederlands: Maastricht, Aken, Luik
Duits: Maastricht, Aachen, Lüttich
Frans: Maestricht, Aix-la-Chapelle, Liège
I was born and raised in Maastricht. What a nice city!
A good subject I would love to hear you guys talk about is Dutch slang and/or Dutch proverbs and sayings 🙂
did you consider car-sharing like Greenweels? to add to public transport?
Train vs car:
1) Car you get in at your house, you get out at your destination, at ANY time of day or night. So yes, a car is more convenient.
2) Cost: If you already own a car (which many people do). Traveling solo, car is more expensive. Traveling with 2 or more people in the car, the car is cheaper.
3) Traveling time. Between cities about the same. Train probably faster during rush hour between cities. If you need to be anywhere else than a city, the car is much faster. That is because traveling to the train station and from the trainstation to the final destination takes a lot of time.
An example: from my house, at a 10 minute walk from the trainstation (in a city with 170k people) to my sisters house 20 min walk from her trainstation (in a town with 45k people). Takes 2 hours for the train. Cost €22,34 (one way ticket) (up to 40% discounts I would use trains regularly). Total time house to house about 2,5 hours - costs (22,34 and 13,41 with discounts). I already own a car, insurance, tax etc. is already paid for, whether I drive or not. Car 65 mins drive - costs 86 km distance = € 11 in gas, there is wear and tear, so lets make it €20. So much faster, solo about the same costs, with 2 people the car is much cheaper. And all this is during daytime and not in a really rural area, so quite optimal for the train (i also didn't use public transport from and to the trainstations, because that would raise costs and walking is faster than the bus. I mean 5 min walk to busstation, waiting 5 mins for the bus, paying, 5 min bus-drive, when I can walk in 10 mins).
Taking the car ownership out of the equation is not correct. A car is a write off , maintenance, insurance item where you pay for every day if you use it or not. You can not simply calculate simply only the fuel costs.
(I take the car to the train station, 4.5km is a bit far to walk timewise.)
Hi trainfan here, though I do still have a car, maybe not for long anymore. About the rise of car ownership: don't forget people's lives and certainly their childrens have become much busier. With crazy schedules it's easier to drop off the kids with a car, especially when the train station is not around the corner and faster than getting on a bus. Children used to cycle more to their sports and hobbys and so, but they are (I think too) busy bees nowadays..And with less stay at home moms it's easier to get two cars also. Most of those people can afford it.
Government (say they) wants people to take (more) public transit, but at the same time keep prices high and cut on public transit lines (for busses).
That's also why you looking for the tipping point of when to take de OV and when to take a car.
Visit e.g. Hungary. The price of the bus is so low, that cars are always to expensive. And busses also do drive frequently.
If Government organize (and subsidiase) OV in the Netherlands that way, you would be a fool to not take the OV on longer trajects!
Where i live are no trains i don't want subsidaise any train with my taxes.
Yay more bunchatted 😁 Are you guys on a weekly upload schedule now? And just an observation, but it might help get more views if you put the word podcast in the title along with the name 😅 Really enjoying these longer videos. Keep it up!
every monday on youtube and tuesday everywhere else :)
The Dutch OV, in the Zuid Limburg, Aken, Luik/Liège route, only works until Aachen/Aken, in Germany you would need other tickets if you want to use the public transport there. Or a Dutch bus that goes over the "border", probably even a German bus, as long as it goes over the border.
Funny you should mention several train stations in a city. They are planning to build a new station between Dordrecht and Dordrecht Zuid. It is supposed to be built in the school district called 'Leerpark'. (meaning Learning Park, not Leather Park😏), on the street called 'Max Goote laan' (look it up). Can you imagine that? The drive from Dordrecht to Zuid is only a few minutes! And the only reason they want a station there is because the buses between Dordrecht station and the Leerpark are always overcrowded with students.
Also, did you know there are several large towns that don't have a train station? I believe Amstelveen (does have tram-connection to Amsterdam), Uden and Oosterhout are the largest three.
And finally, the OV-Chipcard. It is convenient when you travel a lot. For people that don't travel a lot with public transport, they can also tap in and out with their debit- or creditcard now. This only works if you don't need a frequent travel pass or off-peak discount pass, and in the train it is only for second class travel. The advantage for people who do not use public transport much is that you don't have to top-up an amount you never fully use, like on the OV-Chipcard. (for instance, a trainride from Dordrecht to Rotterdam is about 5 euro's, but your OV chipcard needs to have a minimum of 20 euro's on it if you want to travel by train).
The costs of owning a car very much depend on the type of car and the owner. I mean, I drive a 2014 Suzuki Alto, which is a relatively small and lightweight car. It is economical with fuel and maintenance is inexpensive compared to many other cars (and Japanese cars are built solid and dependable). I mean, my parents drive a Citroën which has issues a couple of times a year. I have only had a wheel baring changed last year. The car is 10 years old! Granted, my parents have way more kilometers on their car than mine does.
Road taxes is the cheapest rate and it is also fairly inexpensive in insurance. Plus, I haven't caused any damage since I started driving which adds up a discount. If you ever decide to start driving in The Netherlands, I recommend taking lessons even if you don't require to pass a test here. Driving in The Netherlands is quite different from driving in the USA and especially if you haven't driven for a couple of years, it's very useful to get back into it. And then buy a small second hand car from a Bovag certified dealership. I also once bought a car, Suzuki Alto previous generation, from a family and got around 6 years out of that one. It was a good deal and I already knew what to look for since it's predecessor was the exact same model and colour.
I'm on my third Suzuki Alto, but this 2014 model has airconditioning. 🥰
If you look at the country side, public transportation in rural areas is often minimal. My parents even owned two cars for a while. But they're both retired now and one car is enough. They live in a village in Drenthe where a bus comes through only a few times a day and it's mostly used by school teenagers.
For the longest time, I took public transportation, and in those days-we're talking 70s and 80s here-it was a long walk and sometimes delayed bus and/or metro which could be a bummer but, overall, it was nice and cheap. And then there's the weather but that's another story altogether.
Always love the show.
almere has 7 (SEVEN) train stations
Helmond has four, which is ridiculous for a town of that size.
You still need to buy a ticket to bring a bike on the train, but that can be done online too
This past weekend i had too take the last train home. When i stepped into the train i was greeted by a puddle of vomit... Lesson learned, don't ride the train in the ADE weekend, if you don't enjoy being surrounded by a bunch of high kites 😂
not sure if you will mention it later (I just started to listen) but did you know that when a train is 30 minutes late and you have an ov chipcard you can ask part of your ticketprice back, you just have to do it online.
oooh i did not know that!
Usually half when the delay is between 30 minutes and 60 minutes. And usually full price back when the delay is over 60 minutes.
www.ns.nl/binaries/_ht_1696259449887/content/assets/ns-nl/handleidingen/tabel-geld-terug-bij-vertraging-nieuw.pdf
Got rid of mij car 4 years ago. Being a pensioner now I didn't need my car so much anymore. Living in Rotterdam Charlois, we have a choice of busses and trams to get you to a major hub or destination. Just use the routeplanner from NS or local transport. For a visit to my mother, who lives a long walk from a busstop, I rent an, elerctric, car wich is parked just around the corner. Average costs come,depending or your subscription, at about €0,95 per kilometer or cheaper depending what car you have used. Greenwheelz is also a part of NS so you will allways need an OV card plus an online reservation to use them. A very easy way, not cheap, to get acces to car for getting you to places not far. BTW, I'm 70 and I don't walk so good anymore
The fact you combine solar, piemel and what was written on three houses means something 😂 LOL...
Vroeger reed met met een catering-karretje door de trein. Ze verkochten koffie, thee, limonade en gevulde koeken. Die karretjes waren de reden dat de koploper is ontworpen. De catering kon zo gedurende de rit van de ene naar de andere treinstel lopen.
THE CHOO CHOO CLUB. vibrating your way home lmao
😂😂😂
Railed on rails!
Topic notwithstanding, it's nice to see a new video of yours. I hope you're both doing ok.
I go back far enough to remember when NS toilets not only didn't flush, but were merely a hole to the tracks below. So you'll forgive me if I disagree with the "It used to be so much better" crowd.
I do miss the snack carts on the trains and the old guys selling coffee on the platforms though.
Where is channel 3 ?
In German it is Aachen, in Dutch it is Aken.
It is true one can ride to Aken with the OV but not to Luik Belgium you need to have a valid ticket, so you can use it up to the Belgian border, from then on you would need a valid ticket for the rest of the journey.
It has not been great for a decade or more. it might be better for people with worse trains etc.
But for me , living outside the randstad area its always been: not many busses, no direct lines. Even in a top 8 city of netherlands we need to transfer in other stations to get where. And so many times that trains are late, do not drive etc.
Why do people buy tickets rather than tap in/out?
May want 1st Class, or may be going beyond Dutch border. Automated barriers are for Standard Class single tickets within Netherlands only. (Agreed, 1st class is not really worth the extra cost.)
Or may be changing operator mid-journey (eg NS to Arriva at Leeuwarden when going between Harlingen and Rotterdam) and cannot remember to tap twice in Leeuwarden (it happened to me once but the inspector took pity on a visiting Englishman who suddenly and conveniently forgot how to speak Dutch!).
Michelle, your microphone????
There are a lot of words for piemel in Dutch. Many more than mentioned
I'm going to go with the rail club for the NS equivalent of the mile-high club 🤔
Lul is not that offensive. Especially if you use it in a funny way. We're not that sensitive here 😉 At least I'm not... Also a variation is 'lullen' as a verb, which means talking 😂
Lul niet joh 😂😂😂😂
Punctuality is an issue with the trains.
The old flush on the rails toilets were even more disgusting.
Also some long distance journeys take longer than in the 1970s.
A lot of people have a company supplied public transport subscription.
This morning I went to Utrecht via Arnhem because of my train had a smoking undercarriage at Apeldoorn. the next direct train was jam packed.
NS does not run the ov chip card companies. That is really complicated. I found out when I had a lost card or when getting money back.
I never owned a car, I don't even have a driver's license and I'm still alive. I think the OV has gotten a bit better in the sense that I could take a later train home then I used to after a concert in Amsterdam without stranding somewhere along the way. After the concert of Janet Jackson I nearly stranded though in Den Bosch because the train in Amsterdam had a delay so I would miss my connecting train but lucky the next and last train home waited at the platform so we could still get in just fine. But on the downside it's getting more expensive and I totally get some people cannot afford it anymore.
NS and Prorail has a policy to hold trains if its the last service of the day, so in case of a delayed connecting train they will wait for eachother to provide the transfer. The downside is that other trains also get delayed but its much beter than let your customers stranded at station or have to reboot them om taxi's to get home
@@jessecruzu Ohh that's good to know.. One time I stranded in Den Bosch from Amsterdam because of delays, defect train, a person jumping, took me 3+ hours to get to Den Bosch and then NS was busy getting an extra train to Den Bosch to get all stranded passengers home but that would take at least more then an hour and I was so tired so I called someone to please pick me up.
I travel by train for work every day. it's a 45 minute trip, so not that long I think.. A route card for me is roughly 300 euro's per month. (from which I don't even get back half from my employer) so instead of opting for that I decided to go for the subscription where i can just always travel with any train for "free" in the country, because that is only 50 euro's more expensive.
I can definitely understand people thinking the train is too expensive. They are. It would be cheaper for me to go by car than by train. But for me I really enjoy the freedom to just sit and stare at my phone for an hour in the morning instead of driving morning traffic for 1.5+ hours. And it's much better for the environment.
I hope that at some point the national government will decide to invest in it and make trains a reasonable rate. I think that would help a lot in getting more people to use it.
In my opinion one of the reasons for the car ownership going up is that a lot more women are working these days. So they have to get to work as well. And getting to work by public transport is not always the best option (to put it mildley) when you live in the more rural areas.
So let's say a 25 km commute by bicycle through the wind and rain or in a heated car, dry, music on, picking up the kids and or groceries on your way home..... Not a hard decision if you were to ask me 😉🤣🤣
Of course the density of the German railway system is a bit cheating as the local rail system around cities (always a very dense system) is run by DB and included in the total rail system. In the Netherlands these are run by local transport systems (example Rotterdam) and not included in the railroad density. Also verify that density is not limited to NS only. Many ignore the other operators.
Another measurement is the average distance of the population to a railway station or public transit stop. This favors density populated countries like the Netherlands.
Train is so much better than tinder..
People love to complain, but the weekend off subscription is actually great. If you take just one round-trip during a month you usually already get your money's worth. If i need to take a large trip on a weekend I'll turn the subscription on, so I can have some more "free trips" the rest of the month.
Also for pretty much everyone with a career job, the employer will pay for public transport costs. Never had to pay for the train for work in my entire life. I feel like a lot of people gloss over this and dont fully appreciate it. Even if I don't live in the city anymore, I still don't really need a car. People are just lazy and like to complain.
I didn't even mention the deal culture yet. Much like with certain beauty products you can get deals on day trips which are very affordable. But you need to know where to look and plan in advance
ijzerglijders?
De strippenkaart was ook gelijk door heel Nederland te gebruiken zoals de OV kaart nu.
Maar alleen op streekvervoer. En op dat kringlooptreintje in Zoetermeer?
@@MarcelVolker Dat zou kunnen dat het alleen streekvervoer was. Ik ben van het Zuiden, dus het kringlooptreintje zegt mij niks. Doch herinner ik me wel nog de stempelautomaten op de treinstations. En hoe het werkte met de strippenkaart vouwen naar het juiste aantal strippen en in de stempel automaat duwen.
Zo was het ook normaal in de bus om aan te geven hoeveel strippen, ipv welke halte.
As someone who works behind the scenes. Altoughh valid is some criticism , for the other percentage, is my opinion , ,we are busy with giving more and more world beating service,
Dont shit on us , 8 basically sort out alot of the weekend stremmingen across the land here,
Is it donder op dag ?
Practical point here:
Why don't you put the microphones BEHIND the people?
You can even attach the microphones to the rack cabinet and lay the cables on the ground!
have you considered listening to the podcast and not watching the video? 😉
@@buncharted2 I have subscribed to buncharted and buncharted2. Because I love to see (you) people 🙂
I don't know where to look for the podcast, and ... (and in very fine print) I would not listen to the podcast. It already takes me too long. I'm that guy who told you (in the comments of your first podcast), you could do the podcast in 30 minutes, too.
But, keep up the good work. I love your videos and there are many people that lpve these podcasts too 🙂
29:06 I thought we were past this?!
and to me one huge benefit: you can read your book on the train. So relaxing
Same! The only unfortunate thing sometimes is when people in the silent cabin arent silent😅 recently I had to inform people that they are in fact in the silent cabin 4 times in one train ride
Ik heb een auto voor lange afstanden en grote dingen en binnen mijn stad gebruik ik een snorbrommer,en ik ga niet veel buiten de stad dus daarom een goedkope auto ook in verbruik 9ik wel eens in de 3 a 4 weken naar Duitsland) en ja ach mijn brommer moet eens in de 2 weken een liter benzine in en daar doe ik dus mijn boodschappen mee en ga naar afspraken of familie.
Prorail runs the network, but NS being so big has a strong influence on the system.
If I want to go to Schiphol and back, from where I live in Friesland, it costs me over 60 euros
Which is insane to me
even with a subscription?
In that case, buying a NS Dagkaart is cheaper
@@buncharted2 My problem is I'd only go there 3 times a year to pick up my girlfriend from the Airport. Which also means I'll be dropping her off as well doubling the cost.
I guess I could get a subscription for one month and then cancel it, if that is a possibility.
The place I live also does not have a train station since I live up north which also means I have to take the bus which costs another 12 euros for a return.
Without a subscription the trip would cost me 125,22 euros. With a subscription, excluding the card which costs 7,50, I will be paying 91,30. Which is still just a lot of money spent extra. Obviously I'll do it, I have to. I just wish it were cheaper.
Hopefully in 40 years they will build the Lelylijn reducing the travel time and the cost. :')
I'm definitely getting a subscription for it. It's just still a lot of money.
I guess for a lot of people that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but she's a student and I currently cannot work so because of the situation it's quite a high base cost just to see each other. Obviously we're happy to pay for it. It's just money.
@@urbandiscount It would be, however of that over 60 euros I included the bus ticket which is not included in the NS Dagkaart. I will have to get a subscription for one month every time I go to schiphol.
The public toilet in the Dutch trains is so gross that peeing on the floor would honor it
Public transport? Which public transport?
Living my life in the north and the east seeing public transport is something special almost. I don’t use it. Last time I went anywhere with public transport is more than 5 years ago. And that was because I knew I had to go to the jaarbeurs Utrecht next to the station. I had to drive to a train station to be able to go by train 😝🤣.
So, no, you can’t live without a car, impossible!
Stedenwippers?
2:25 but perhaps you'd be itching afterwords. 🥁🥁📀
What is the busiest railway network in Europe?
The Dutch rail network
The Dutch rail network is Europe's busiest. And it will only become busier. Passenger transport has increased, and both passenger and freight transport are expected to increase over the next few years as well. That is why railway companies indicate that they are concerned about rail capacity.
The Ov system is in the netherlands very good,modern reliable but.....expensive.....to expensive.....belgium has more stations less People
It's a bit of a false statement saying that car ownership is going up (per household 0,8 to 1,1). The reason for THAT is that young people need a car as they always did, but a lot more are living longer with their parents because they cannot afford to buy property because of the extortianate house prices. Then of course the number of cars per household is going to rise. The number of car owners has risen too !
Owww Dutch trains... where to begin.
Since privatization numerous maintenance workshops for trains have disappeared (Zwolle and Amersfoort come to mind but there are more), this leads to lower standards and more cancellations.
Service has... plundered. Honestly if I drop something edible I would expect it lost so dirty have these trains gotten. It shows a lack of respect to travelers and personnel and it is something that really, really pisses me of.
The OV chipkaart is really useful but I am convinced NS sees it as a means to cut on 'conducteur' costs, not all train stations have 'gates' (and those that do can easily be jumped if you want) but the chances that there is a dedicated 'conducteur' on your specific trip has dropped immensely the last 20 years (another service issue).
Privatization has lead to some routes being serviced by others than NS, but the main network is still NS. There is no real competition, so why did we privatize? Also there is NS and Prorail, on paper the division between these 2 works in practice they blame each other for delays and cancellations.... ifs a fucking nightmare.
I think I can keep going, about dirty trains or new and old material being issued to late or retired to early etc etc... And all this from a Dutchie in his early 30s that really, really loves trains, just the way it is handled right now (and the last 20 years) is infuriating.
As a last addendum, yes the trains (mostly) work. But we shouldn't strive for just enough or just slightly more convenient then cars in practicality or price. We should strive for perfection, the fact that Japan can do it means it is possible so why should be except this... mediocrity
Yeah..... sadly a lot of people here aren't aware they shouldn't bother other people. And they invade your personal space.
The toilet is safer then the seats. At least, if you dont want to get caught.
I hate public transportation, always did. But that has to do with the fact I live in Zeeland, and public transportation there is dreadful (except for the line Goes-Middelburg-Vlissingen). And I don't like being cramped up with a lot of people in a train, tram, metro or bus. Which happens when you take the OV to and from work.
I work in Rotterdam, and by car it takes 45 minutes to get to work. By public transport it would take me 2 hours. So my choice is pretty obvious.
The quality of the OV in The Netherlands has declined in the past years, mainly because the costs of using and maintaining it. As a result, a lot of (especially) bus lines have been terminated, leaving a lot of people to resort to a car, or friends/family or a taxi to get them to hospital for example.
So it may seem very positive on the surface, but when you dig a little bit deeper, there are a lot of cons.
The NS has become complete dogshit. The prices for tickets are INSANE.
Ik ontdek dat ik steeds blijf wachten op het onderdeel 'Raad het woord'. Overigens is L-woord ook een afkorting van een avangarde punkband uit de jaren tachtig: Lui Uit Leeuwarden ua-cam.com/video/oEyBCBzHnBs/v-deo.html
I'd say 'penis' is a very clinical term used to objectively describe the male part. 'Piemel' feels a little bit less heavy and serious, but not offensive at all (how could it when it sounds like that); it's a more kid-friendly version. And 'lul' is pretty much exclusively used as slang or as an insult in my experience.
Well…according to my information the lul is not that exclusive in its usage, sometime it’s invasive at others it releasing and then there’s the infamous and untranslatable swaffelen…..😂😂😂😂
Rail Romance League
Trouble with OV fiets is you need a personal OVchipkaart which needs Dutch address and Dutch bank account. No good for tourists like m
Mile high club on a train: getting railed.
Cancellations of the trains is due to 2 reasons.
The rare one is material failure, the common one is accidents of which a large portion is suicides.
They don't want to "advertise" the latter.
I first saw "lichaam op spoor" change to "dier op spoor"... and I think they only say "aanrijding" now, no further details lol
Wait I just realise.... You only have 2500 followers??? I thought like 250.000
Owning a car is waaaaay cheaper for me. Trains are only okay when its paid for you by government or work. Old people, kids, students and commuters use trains. Its all -at least partially - being paid for by the collective
I saw once how 2 people where 'fkkn' on the seats. I said; 'You're not supposed to.'... I was trying to be funny, so to clearify I said, I am Dutch
I have to clear something up. I am a native Dutchman.
The only people who use public transit every single day are either: tourists, expats, people that're afraid to drive, are too poor to own or buy a car, students and climate activists.
I literally, aside from people who are in the upper listed categories, know no one who doesn't just drive to the grocery store every day, or goes to work with their car every day. It's still a very normal thing to own a car here and use it for mondane tasks- and annually it's actually cheaper too believe it or not.
The idea that because our public transit is so well organized and that no one drives a car here and simply just uses public transit is an urban legend and an exaggerated half truth.
Must be nice.
And as a native Dutchman I can respond to this: "No. Back to Geenstijl with you."
_Millions_ of Dutch people use public transport. Every. Work day.
Nahh I think that's a bit of an exageration.
I grew up in a small countryside village where you kinda 'need' a car and people still go out of their way to use public transport, even though there is only one bus which goes every 30 minutes during peak hours and every hour during off-peak hours. Not everyone wants to sit in trafic during rush hour & that way you can actually get work done on the way. Also, not all workplaces offer good parking facilities.
And for daily groceries you take the bike. If you're able to go to the grocery store everyday and still feel like you need to take the car, that's just a strange choice in my opinion (unless you have a good reason, like a handicap or something). If you only do weekly shopping then it obviously makes sense to take the car.
Conclusion: Most people use a combination of bike, car, and OV depending on the specific situation.
We have shitty public transit in my town, but when I go out in Amsterdam, I take the bus so I can drink alcohol. The last bus back goes at 23.40, but in the weekend (Fri-Sat and Sat-Sun) there is a nightbus every hour. That’s a service I use, otherwise I hardly take public traffic. I take the car to work, and sometimes I park my car at the nearest station, which is 20min by car away. But only when I go to a city center of Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam, Gouda etc. because parking is expensive there.
I'm 47, have a pretty good job in IT in a different city than my own, am only mildly for eco-friendlyness above comfort, have my license and love driving. I literally do not own a car because the public transport is so good.
Also, don't forget that our petrol/gasoline is among the most expensive in the world and that cars are quite heavily taxed as well. And don't get me started on parking costs in a lot of places. If you can even find a spot; my neighborhood supposedly has about 97% utilization of parking spaces in the evenings (and I wonder how they ever found 3% empty).
But I am single, live in a big city near grerat public transport with my job also directly next to public transport, and my commute would take about as long either way in peak hours (and about the same by bike as well), so I am definitely not your average Dutch person.
Or maybe I am just the living embodyment of the carless unicorn. 😉
I don't know if your Dutch is good enough yet to follow this sketch (from 1977) by the Klisjeemannetjes (van Kooten & de Bie), but it should definitely improve your knowledge of Dutch slang: ua-cam.com/video/yCt_8o7vv8E/v-deo.htmlsi=VjAB7O2MnE4iD4iU
Pak gewoon een biertje en fiets 😂
Railed on a train club
Utrecht has 9 train stations -- just saying.