It definitely does save you time when you know which train to take to get somewhere fast. These days, there are lots of easy ways to get up to date information on your Dutch train schedule:
Internet (perhaps on your smartphone?)
Surf to ns.nl . There's an english version available as well and a downsized version for mobile phones at m.ns.nl . Here, you can use the journey planner to get the best advice on your trip. Use the Dutch names for each of the cities, English names aren't recognized. (Most cities have the same name, but you should know that The Hague translates to Den Haag). Adjust date and time if applicable, because some trains only run during rush hour or on weekdays - the planner will give you advice for the day and time you have selected. The planner will also give you a warning when a train is late or if there is a planned, or unexpected, disruption of the normal train schedule. Unfortunately the content of this warning will be in Dutch.
Smartphone app
If you have a smart phone, there is an excellent and free app available called "NS Reisplanner Xtra". It's produced by NS, the most important Dutch railway company. The app's available for android, iphone, ipad, blackberry, nokia phones and maybe even more platforms. It will have the latest and most accurate information. Unfortunately, there is no English version, so you'll have to use the Dutch one.
Good old "asking around"
Although coming prepared is the best thing, your next best resource of information are your fellow travelers. (Dutch) fellow travelers will in at least 80% of the cases be very happy to help you with your journey in exchange of being able to practice their English.
Information signs at the station
Finally, the yellow information signs at the station can be used. In the Netherlands, the information is only available for departing trains and categorized by in which direction the train is headed. If you're in The Hague and want to go to Schiphol, you'll want to look for the information sign that has "Amsterdam/Schiphol" at the top. The railway map of the Netherlands, which should be on another information sign closeby, could be of help here. On the sign with the trains going in the direction you want, the departing trains are listed ordered by time of departure (using the 24 hour schedule, so for example 3 PM = 15.00).
More and more stations also have digital information signs available. These will have information on the ten to twenty trains departing next (depending on the size of the station). The trains are again indicated by the general direction in which they're headed and these digital information signs will give you up to date information on delays or other changes of the time schedule or the departure platform.
A few Dutch words about trains
- Train - trein
- Inter-city train - intercity
- Local train visiting all stations - sprinter
- First class - eerste klas - a big "1" can be seen on the outside, and inside of first class coaches
- Second class - tweede klas - a big "2" will show you the location of second class coaches.
- Railway station - (trein) station
- Platform - spoor
- Departure - vertrek
- Arrival - aankomst
- Journey planner - reisplanner
- From - van
- To - naar
- Travel via - (reis) via
- Ticket - kaartje
- Smart card - OV-chipkaart
- Tickets & service stands - NS loket or kaart loket or service loket
- Disturbance - storing
- Delay - vertraging
I also wrote about how to buy (cheap) tickets for your train journey.
Have a nice journey - Goede reis!
Petra Huijts - Born and raised in the south of the Netherlands, I went to the University of Leiden (the Netherlands) at age 18 and studied both Medicine ...
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