The Netherlands’ national train service, NS, is introducing Flex Dal Vrij (off-peak free) tickets to 49 euros per month fron 127.95 euros This is good for unlimited train travel outside peak hours. But the clock is ticking … you have to get your pass by 30 June and is valid for a maximum of two months, and the demand is crashing the NS website, with 20,000 sold in a matter of hours.
The reduced price is temporary. The season ticket expires automatically after one month, and you can renew only for a second month through 31 August. You can purchase the season ticket through the NS website or at a ticket machine at a train station, but you need a personal OV-chipkaart to use the season ticket.
If you already have an NS Dal Vrij season ticket, you will automatically receive the summer discount for two months.
Off-peak hours are:
- Weekdays before 6:30 a.m., between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and after 6:30 p.m.
- All day Saturdays and Sundays.
The initiative is financially supported by the Dutch government, in collaboration with NS and other rail operators. The discount is funded by 118 million euro budget from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. For each pass, the government covers 79 euros, so this doesn’t look like it’s going to be a permanent discount.
Unfortunately, this is a one-time deal at this point, and a VERY popular one. The measure is temporary, funded by the Dutch government, in collaboration with NS and other rail operators. (Yes, little Netherlands has multiple for-profit operators including Arriva and Breng, all overseen by the govenment agency ProRail.)
This is the government’s answer to rising gasoline costs caused by the Iran War and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and it’s a big deal. The Netherlands rail system stretches from Emshaven on the North Sea to Maastricht on the southern border. The train grid is noted for its complexity and density, but nearly every town in the country has rail service.
If this idea sounds familiar, the discount ticket idea started in neighboring Germany as a 49 euro ticket scheme, which now costs 63 euros per month.
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Read more about the Netherlands here in Dispatches’ archives.
