Dutch train tickets cost same as European average despite rising prices

While NS has recently announced price hikes for train tickets in the Netherlands, travelling with Dutch public transport is actually no more expensive than the European average, reports NU.nl based on figures from Eurostat and local transport experts. 

Travel by Dutch train matches average European prices

There may be countries in Europe where you can travel by train for less than in the Netherlands, but there are also countries where the costs are higher. This puts Dutch train ticket prices somewhere in the middle, as supported by Eurostat figures from July, which show the Dutch public transport price index to be very average.

Wijnand Veeneman, researcher in infrastructure and mobility at Delft University of Technology, doesn’t particularly care for studies like those of Eurostat. “You can create price indexes in all sorts of ways. And with each method, a different country will always come out on top," he told NU.nl. 

For this reason, Veeneman has come up with a simple calculation where you determine the cost of a second-class train journey of around 125 kilometres from a capital city. Using this method, a journey from Amsterdam to Hengelo would cost 31 euros. This is more expensive than a trip from Lisbon to Évora (16 euros) and London to Coventry (26 euros), but cheaper than a train journey from Brussels to Libramont (35 euros), Oslo to Lillehammer (44 euros), Paris to Reims (52 euros) and Copenhagen to Odense (52 euros). 

Dutch public transport receives less government support

People in the Netherlands might perceive local public transport to be more expensive than the rest of Europe because many tend to compare the costs to those of driving. "When you check out of the train, you immediately see what it costs. With a car, you don't realise that," explained Veeneman. 

While Dutch train tickets do not cost more than the average European price, some countries like Luxembourg, where public transport is free, definitely have it better. "A major reason is that the Dutch government invests proportionally less in public transport," said Bert van Wee, professor of transport policy at Delft University of Technology. In fact, the government even planned to cut 335 million euros in subsidies before reducing this to just 110 million euros. 

Some countries such as Spain subsidise public transport more and have lower wages. That is why travelling by train in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Romania and others is more affordable. Despite NS being named among the five worst rail operators in Europe, Van Wee points out that Dutch trains mostly run on time and are well organised, train stations in the Netherlands are well maintained, and the rail network is well connected.