You might get a tiny, little bit confused when using the public transport. Checking in and out, buying a card, topping up … Why do all the machines look different and what’s the use of that, other than make tourists feel like they’ve entered the twilight zone. Well, that last one is just a bonus. The real reason is that public transport in Amsterdam is provided by different companies. Check this out.
gated check-in and out points at the central station, some are always open for passing through the station
The plastic chipcard works everywhere
Yep, that’s what you might wonder. If you have a plastic anonymous or personalised chipcard, it’ll work in any form of public transport in The Netherlands. The companies that provide services could agree on that. But that does not mean they don’t want their own personalised machines and checkpoint, no no no. Accessories are in company style, ya know? Make it perty! So you might see machines that are for checking in and out, next to some other machine that serves the same purpose, but for another form of transport. Yep, if you know how, it’s easy, but let me explain the basics to you.
NS, trains
So the NS (National Railways) is the provider of train services in the whole country. Their machines are yellow and blue, and their check-in/out points have their logo. Their color is bright yellow, if you see a big yellow machine, it’s NS.
GVB
The other forms of public transport in Amsterdam, subways, busses and trams, are provided by GVB
Typical subway-only station entry. Check in and out right here.
(Great Transport Company). They also provide the 24 hour passes, week cards etcetera. Which one to buy? Read it here. But these paper ones are only valid on these GVB forms of transport. Trains are way more expensive, owned by another company and thus excluded.
Subway checking in and out
When taking a subway, you will check when entering the station or on the platform (both are okay). There is no machine inside the subway line, so when you’re on board, you can’t check in anymore. Usually you would have entered the subway (‘metro’) station via one of those gateways, where you must check in to enter. But when there is also a train rail available, these portals are open 24/7 and people often check in at the poles on the platforms.
Tram and bus checking in and out
In busses and trams, the checkpoints will look like this, located at the doors.
The busses and trams have a check-in point inside, not on the platform. That would be way to costly, because of vandalism. So don’t go looking for one, you can use the one on board.
‘Pontje’
You might know that we’ve got ferries heading out accross the IJ river, de pontjes. That is public transport too. ‘Pontje’ means little ferry. At the back of the central station, you’ll find several. These trips are free, just hop on. They’re owned by GVB as well. You can take your bike on board as well.
Train check-point at left, subway on the right.
Transfer from subway to train, now what?
This is when it get’s confusing. Say you arrive at Amstel station, and you get out, alright, but now your subway into the city arrives at that same station. Even at the other side of the platform you arrived at. Now what? Check in once again? Proceed? Let me tell you.
First you check out at the NS-checking out point. You stop traveling with NS, right? Than, you go to the GVB-check in, and check in. Now you’re okay to hop on the subway as a paying customer. You will, when subway and train station are together, find the check-in polls right next to each other. Follow the crowd, people flock there to quickly check out and check in again (beep-beep!).
So, that’s all folks?
Nah, ofcourse not. Busses are under the umbrella of GVB in Amsterdam, but can be from the company ‘Connexxion’. And if you take a bus into the country, it might be even something else, like Arriva. But remember, they all work with that same plastic chip card. So if you’ve got that, you’re covered. Just make sure there’s money on there because topping up in a bus or tram, after noticing you’re out of credit? No, that is not possible. Is that the stupidest thing ever? Yes. Do you sometimes end up walking around late at night, looking for a supermarket still open with a top-up machine, finding NONE, yes, that happens too.
Any questions on public transport in Amsterdam? Feel free to ask or check out some of the other blogs.
