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Dutch public transport is the most expensive in Europe

Dutch public transport is the most expensive in Europe

According to 2017 figures from the European Statistical Office Eurostat, public transport in the Netherlands is more expensive than in any of the other 27 countries in the European Union.

Pricey public transport

Public transport in the Netherlands, including taxis and ferry services, costs a pretty penny. It is namely 32 percent more expensive than the average cost of public transport in the EU.

According to Bert van Wee, Transport Policy professor at the Delft University of Technology, the differences in price across Europe can be attributed to the extent to which public transport is subsidised by the government.

In Belgium, for example, transport costs are only 4 percent above the European average and the government there “wants to stimulate public transport, for example by ensuring that everyone has access to a bus stop within a few hundred metres. But that also costs a considerable amount of money”, he explains.

Cheap European transport

In Luxembourg, public transport will be completely free by 2020. This stands in stark contrast to the prices in the Netherlands. According to calculations by RTL Nieuws, a subscription for the specific route Antwerp – Ghent would cost 174 euros per month. For the route AmsterdamThe Hague, which covers a similar distance, you’d be looking at 371 euros per month.

For more information, see the Eurostat report.

Mina Solanki

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Mina Solanki

Completed her Master's degree at the University of Groningen and worked as a translator before joining IamExpat. She loves to read and has a particular interest in Greek mythology. In...

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Abhishek Ghosh 19:20 | 4 January 2019

Is this for real ? Did they count Germany ? German public transport is more expensive than NL. What about Finland ?

chocomel 07:53 | 5 January 2019

of course public transport is cheaper in Germany!

chocomel 07:56 | 5 January 2019

In the Netherlands uaage of a bike is encouraged rather than public transport, actually it is not a joke. and Taxi seems to be a luxury good here, in contrary to other countries. Regarding trains, tourist can easily spend fortune on the tickets, while locals know that the only way it make sense to use train is to buy a dagkaart in kruidvat or somewhere else.

Joop Kiefte 17:28 | 5 January 2019

Traject prices are extremely out of whack. Actually, for the price of mentioned Amsterdam-The Hague track, you get peak-hour travel in all of the Netherlands on all modes of public transport basically. The common way would be e.g. an off-peak discount or free card, which gives full country for the price of a month one city in some other countries.

Linda J McPhee 00:40 | 15 January 2019

I don’t believe that. The UK is worse, and less understandable even for locals.

DavidHamilton 08:47 | 30 July 2019

I honestly don't think that it really matters how expensive transport really is as long as it's reliable. I mean if you're going to be able to sit on a bus or a train and it guarantee you less than 5% of delays in your daily commute, I think that it'd be worth every penny than trying to fight through traffic on the roads in your own car!