Page 448 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands

446  SUR VIV AL GUIDE

Public Transport

The Netherlands has a comprehensive and efficient
public transport system. Major cities can be easily
reached by train, while towns and villages are served
by local buses as well as a number of trains. The
Randstad in particular gets fairly snarled up in the Dieren–Apeldoorn steam train
morning and evening rush hour. If you need to travel
at that time, the best thing to do is to leave the car Steam Trains
and take the train. There are many places in the
Netherlands where you can
take a ride in a steam train.
the rear door is for boarding There is, for example, the
only. Tram stops are normally 22-km (14-mile) Dieren–
announced, but if you aren’t Apeldoorn line, the 16-km
sure where to get off, you can (10-mile) Kerkrade–Schin
always ask the driver to call out op Geul, (the “million line”,
the stop. see p372), the 15.5-km (9.5-
mile) Goes–Oudelande,
around the Valkenburgse
By Train Meer lake and through
Long-distance buses cover an expanding the Hoogoventerrein at
number of routes The Dutch national railway IJmuiden (21 km/13 miles,
company, Nederlandse
By Bus Spoorwegen, or simply NS, departing from Beverwijk
The Netherlands has a good runs a busy network which is Station, see p192). A steam
train runs the 20 km
network of local buses and considered one of the best in (12 miles) between Hoorn
inter-city coaches. Booklets the world. Trains are clean and and Medemblik in summer
are available giving detailed generally run on time, and (see p182). Check with the VVV,
information on routes, time- tickets are reasonably priced. as schedules vary.
tables and fares, although it is Timetables are displayed on
also possible to get information yellow boards in stations. Rail
from Openbaar Vervoer tickets are available at ticket transport are also available.
Reisinformatie (0900-9292). offices, Wizzl station shops For information it is best to
Operated by a number of and from ticket machines in ask at ticket offices, or
companies, long-distance buses stations, or, with a substantial telephone 0900-9292.
are very comfortable. They supplement, from the Many railways in Friesland,
usually follow direct routes conductor aboard the train. Groningen and the Achterhoek
between places and stop less Dutch Railways has a wide are run by NordNed and Syntus.
frequently than local buses variety of fare discounts on offer, NS cards are also valid on
(streek bussen). In the evenings including Railrunner tickets for these lines. Night trains run on
they do not operate as late as children, and other offers for the Utrecht CS-Amsterdam
the local buses. The timetables people regularly using the same CS-Schiphol-Leiden Centraal-
for buses are based on the route. Combined season tickets The Hague CS-Delft-Rotterdam
railway timetable. Long-distance for the train and local or urban CS lines.
buses are green and have an
information display.
By Tram
There are trams in Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, Utrecht and The
Hague. They generally run from
6am to midnight. On Sundays
they start one or one-and-a-half
hours later. Tram stops display
the name of the stop, the tram
numbers that stop there and
show the other stops on the
route. Tram shelters display
maps of the tram network.
You can board or alight from
any door, unless there is a
conductor on the tram, when An NS double-decker train speeding past tulip fields

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