Netherlands introduce contactless for second class train travel

[Howardh]

Hurrah! Saves having to get a Chipcard to get the proper fare! I think it confirms that you tap in at the station, and tap out on arrival?

Train passengers can check in and out using contactless cards & devices from next week

NS is officially implementing OVpay. From January 31, train travelers who travel full fare in second class will be able to pay for their trip with a contactless debit card, credit card, or smartphone. NS, Arriva, and Qbuzz train travelers will no longer have to go to a ticket machine to buy...

nltimes.nl

Train passengers can check in and out using contactless cards & devices from next week​

NS is officially implementing OVpay. From January 31, train travelers who travel full fare in second class will be able to pay for their trip with a contactless debit card, credit card, or smartphone. NS, Arriva, and Qbuzz train travelers will no longer have to go to a ticket machine to buy their ticket or top up their OV-chip card balance, NS announced.
Over the past months, over 3,000 travelers tested the contactless payment option. According to the Dutch rail company, it learned from this pilot and made the necessary improvements to the technology.

“From now on, checking in and out of the train is just as easy and fast as paying for groceries without contact,” Tjalling Smit of the NS board of directors said. “It is about convenience. This way, you can use the train without having to buy a ticket.” The OV-chip cards will continue to work. Contactless payment is an additional form of payment.
Contactless payment costs the same as full-fare second-class public transport on the chip card. The costs of trips are added up per day and then deducted. Travelers can check the payment overview with their bank the next day.

“Since the gates will also read chips from debit cards, credit cards, or mobile from January 31, we ask our travelers to present the desired payment method separately at the gate. That prevents travelers from accidentally checking in with the wrong card and paying too much for their trip,” NS said.

 

[rvdborgt]

Hurrah! Saves having to get a Chipcard to get the proper fare! I think it confirms that you tap in at the station, and tap out on arrival?

And tap out and in when you change operator.

 

[Howardh]

And tap out and in when you change operator.

Wonder what the maximum charge is if you forget to tap out?

 

[DanielB]

I think it confirms that you tap in at the station, and tap out on arrival?

As long as you travel with NS only that's the way it works indeed. When changing between trains of different operators one needs to tap out at operator A and in at operator B, just like they way it works with the OV-chipcard.
I believe the supplement posts for IC direct were also exchanged, so getting a supplement should also be possible (with discount off peak)

For now only second class, no discounts or subscriptions possible. Other articles mention Arriva and Qbuzz will also switch on OVpay next Tuesday. As Connexxion already switched it on most trains can be used with a contactless bank or credit card. Not sure about Keolis, but as they only operate Blauwnet rail services sharing card readers with Arriva I suppose they will also convert next week.

In some regions the buses still have to switch on OVpay, so there one still needs an OV chipcard in some cases.

Wonder what the maximum charge is if you forget to tap out?

Should be 20 euro. Though unlike the chipcard your card is charged the day after for all trips on the previous day.

 

[johncrossley]

Hurrah! Saves having to get a Chipcard to get the proper fare! I think it confirms that you tap in at the station, and tap out on arrival?

Although it is easy enough to buy a ticket from the app and it costs the same. The main benefit will be for local buses as you won't have to buy tickets from the driver at higher cost if you don't have an OV-Chipkaart.

For now only second class, no discounts or subscriptions possible.

Does that mean they plan to implement first class, discounts and subscriptions in the future? How would that work? A lot of the debate on this forum regarding contactless fares around London, and the possibility of scrapping paper tickets, concerns the difficulty in implementing discounted fares for railcard holders and children.

 

[AlexNL]

Does that mean they plan to implement first class, discounts and subscriptions in the future? How would that work?

No, traveling on a debit/credit card (or using Apple/Google Pay) will remain limited to full fare in 2nd class. For anything else, you'll need to buy a ticket or use an OV-chipkaart.

The OV-chipkaart itself will eventually be superseded by the "OV-pas", which will be available as a physical card as well as in a digital form. Details about the exact working of the OV-pas are still scarce - except for the price. A digital OV-pas will cost € 3 / 5 year, a physical card will cost € 6 / 5 year.

 

[dutchflyer]

Ah-the railwayfans-always have more questions right away. Just wait&see mostly for now. Plans enough, implementation will last.
For TRAINs it does not bring that much of lower fares, as there is no discount for using chipcards/bankcards, other as for bustram. In trains it saves the 1€ rip-off cost for a cardboard ticket if one would want that. But its the same price (full fare only) as online or via app. Nor does it have the LON-Oyster feature of daily capping-neither does it on buses. So with extensive travel a dayticket-must be bought before on start trip 1, may work out cheaper in total.
It seems that the stations that share operators, like Arnhem and Nijmegen are still without the feature, but perhaps just for a few days more to come.
There have also been dire warnings for those with all modern hi-tech: if one holds bankcard on the fone, or if one is used to apple-pay it will NOT work (yet?). For now stick to old-style plastic bank/cred.cds. YOu will be charged the night after for the total. IF one would want a complete overveiw of what trips etc. one can create an account for that- and probably also use that to rectify missed checks etc. And its for inland trips only-will not work for over the border-except the few cases into Germany where non-NS runs (Aachen, Gronau, Emmerich) and if your trip ends there. Still I think we are the very first national railway to offer this way of paying nationwide. Unless someone knows another one? (Denmark would probably be the main contender).
And yes-for the very clever: 20€ ´fine=regulation fee´ is lower as MAX single fare on longer distance (is now around 27/28) so there are cases where ´forgetfullness´ pays off, only if final stop is without gates of course. But that is also with chipcards and has always been. In longer bustrips even more (MAX then set at 4€, which by now will cover about 15-20 KM).
In fact I thought that by now all bus/tram are also fitted for it, they were much quicker as NS to do so. But there may be the odd exception.
In fact it remains thus possible for now to buy single ticket from driver and pay for that: ONly by bankcard! No cash taken.

 

[johncrossley]

And yes-for the very clever: 20€ ´fine=regulation fee´ is lower as MAX single fare on longer distance (is now around 27/28) so there are cases where ´forgetfullness´ pays off, only if final stop is without gates of course. But that is also with chipcards and has always been. In longer bustrips even more (MAX then set at 4€, which by now will cover about 15-20 KM).

But won't they block your card if you do this too often?

 

[DanielB]

No, traveling on a debit/credit card (or using Apple/Google Pay) will remain limited to full fare in 2nd class. For anything else, you'll need to buy a ticket or use an OV-chipkaart.

That's not true: this year "level 1" goes live, but levels 2 and 3 will follow with age related discounts and subscriptions.
However: not all subscriptions will be available on bank cards. But the exact portfolio of products hasn't been decided on yet.

 

[AY1975]

Will it work with credit and debit cards from most or all countries including the UK?

Presumably if there's an inspection during your journey you'll just have to present the card or payment device that you're using and the ticket inspector's scanner will be able to check if you've signed in at a station where the train has called (as happens with contactless payment on Manchester Metrolink).

 

[AlexNL]

Will it work with credit and debit cards from most or all countries including the UK?

This is what the OVpay website says about that:

If you travel second class without subscription or discount, you can check in and out with:

• contactless debits card from ABN AMRO, ASN bank, bunq, ING, Rabobank, Regiobank, or SNS
• contactless credit cards from Mastercard and Visa (issued by ICS)
• smartphones that are set up with contactless payment with a card from above-mentioned debit and credit cards. Also with Apple Pay and Google Wallet
• a foreign contactless debit or credit cards from Maestro, V pay, Mastercard, or Visa

Presumably if there's an inspection during your journey you'll just have to present the card or payment device that you're using and the ticket inspector's scanner will be able to check if you've signed in at a station where the train has called (as happens with contactless payment on Manchester Metrolink).

At time of inspection, you show your card to the inspector. Their device can then retrieve the status from the backend and the inspector can see whether you've touched in correctly. This is the same as today, and the same rules will apply. You're not allowed to travel towards your touch-in station for example.

 

[johncrossley]

Will it work with credit and debit cards from most or all countries including the UK?

Frequently asked questions - OVpay.nl

Read the frequently asked questions

ovpay.nl

If you travel second class without subscription or discount, you can check in and out with:

• contactless debits card from ABN AMRO, ASN bank, bunq, ING, Rabobank, Regiobank, or SNS
• contactless credit cards from Mastercard and Visa (issued by ICS)
• smartphones that are set up with contactless payment with a card from above-mentioned debit and credit cards. Also with Apple Pay and Google Wallet
• a foreign contactless debit or credit cards from Maestro, V pay, Mastercard, or Visa

 

[DanielB]

One thing to be careful with however is when travelling on an e-ticket with QR code. The NS and NS International apps suppress NFC and thus avoid that you touch in with a bank card in your Google / Apple Wallet instead of opening the gates with the QR code.

The DB and Interrail app don't suppress NFC, so you'll have to do that manually (or press the information button on the pole next to the gates to have one opened remotely)

 

[rvdborgt]

The DB and Interrail app don't suppress NFC, so you'll have to do that manually (or press the information button on the pole next to the gates to have one opened remotely)

The Interrail app now does. Not sure about DB Navigator and others.
I can't really blame them if they don't implement it immediately. IMO it's a major design fault that chipcards and NFC cards/devices have to be presented at the same location. Suppressing NFC functionality is just a workaround.

 

[johncrossley]

I tried this for the first time today and it is convenient that each trip can be seen in the banking app as a separate transaction soon after you have touched out. The clever thing is that you get a code in the transaction details so you can look up the trip details without having to set up an account like you do with London contactless. For example, a few minutes after a train trip the code NLOVWB85YEMKYDM5VE appeared in my banking app so I simply put that into the website along with the 15.10 fare and it showed the journey details. It says it will be in the payment overview the next day, but I put the code into the website a few minutes after I got off the train.

 

[DanielB]

It says it will be in the payment overview the next day, but I put the code into the website a few minutes after I got off the train.

Can't find where I read it anymore, but remember having read that it depends on the card how the transactions are processed. It should actually be the case that the total of all transactions on one day is taken from your bank account the following day. But with digital cards on smartphones or -watches apparently the transaction is processed immediately.

The Dutch travelling public still has to become more aware of the new system by the way: since its introduction at NS there have been quite a lot of complaints by people who touched in with their bank card trying to scan an e-ticket (inconveniently the Dutch gates have card and QR reader combined). Or touched in with their bank card and -out with their chipcard.
That's why the gates at NS stations display the advice to hold only one card at a time in front of the card reader.

 

[rvdborgt]

(inconveniently the Dutch gates have card and QR reader combined).

That's a major design fault IMO. But we'll be stuck with it for quite some years. NS are trying to roll out workarounds, such as changing the CoC (NS e-tickets only valid when printed or in the NS app) but that doesn't really work for e.g. e-tickets bought elsewhere or the DB Navigator app.

 

[popeter45]

Yea when getting out of Amsterdam after my IC140 became a mix of RB and NS IC's a few days ago nearly got caught out on the scanner and did a cars check and tried to change me a penalty €20 fare but looks like they realised I was existing so charge didn't go thru

Also taking Eurostar later today and they now say to store your ticket on Google wallet to avoid this exact issue

 

[zero]

(NS e-tickets only valid when printed or in the NS app) but that doesn't really work for e.g. e-tickets bought elsewhere or the DB Navigator app.

If a visitor is able to use contactless, are there any reasons to still use an NS e-ticket for a journey wholly in NL?

 

[DanielB]

No, but the problem is with cross border e-tickets. DB Navigator doesn't suppress NFC so leaving or entering the station using a QR code in that app may result in touching out or in with a digital bank card instead.

 

[AlexNL]

OVpay highlights one of the many, many design flaws which plague our gatelines. The way the gates have been designed is just horrible.

Back to OVpay: if you have an account on ns.nl, you can add your bank card to 'Mijn NS' to see all journeys there. The link to do so is at the bottom of the Mijn NS homepage.

 

[MisterT]

Tomorrow some small changes will be implemented. NS was seeing a lot of check-outs without a check-in (probably because people either tried to check out with a different contactless card or tried to open the barriers with an international ticket app that doesn't block the NFC payment feature on smartphones), so all check-outs with a contactless (virtual) card without a check-in will be rejected. People will need to either check-out with their ticket, or buy a ticket in the app if they travelled without a valid ticket in the first place to open the barriers.

Of course, if there has been some error, customers can always use the information poles that are located alongside the barriers to contact the customer service and they can open the barriers remotely if necessary.

 

[zero]

Tomorrow some small changes will be implemented. NS was seeing a lot of check-outs without a check-in (probably because people either tried to check out with a different contactless card or tried to open the barriers with an international ticket app that doesn't block the NFC payment feature on smartphones), so all check-outs with a contactless (virtual) card without a check-in will be rejected. People will need to either check-out with their ticket, or buy a ticket in the app if they travelled without a valid ticket in the first place to open the barriers.

Does this mean the system is live (unlike for example in London) and every barrier will know which cards have checked in? Can ticket inspectors also tell whether you checked in when reading your card on the train?

Also you wrote the word "virtual" - so if you use a physical card it won't reject the exit if you didn't check in?

 

[DanielB]

Does this mean the system is live (unlike for example in London) and every barrier will know which cards have checked in? Can ticket inspectors also tell whether you checked in when reading your card on the train?

Yes, the system is live and ticket inspectors are able to see that you're checked in.
Actually this was the main challenge for the bus operators as the chipcard system on buses was never online and just transferred data via wifi at the depot. A live system was required for the checks with the banks for sufficient credit and for example if the card is blocked.

At NS the system has always been live as poles and gates on stations are wired to the backend systems. That's why NS transactions show up immediately after touching out in the travel history, even with an OV-chipcard.

 

[kentrailman]

Am I correct in thinking that contactless with a UK card will not work from Hoek van Holland station on the tram, or whatever they turned the train into there ?

 

[johncrossley]

Am I correct in thinking that contactless with a UK card will not work from Hoek van Holland station on the tram, or whatever they turned the train into there ?

According to

OVpay

www.ret.nl

You can check in and out with OVpay in more and more areas in the Netherlands. Check www.ovpay.nl/locaties to see where it's already possible. Checking in and out with OVpay is not yet possible at RET. Are you traveling to the RET transport area with another carrier and are you transferring to the RET? Then continue your journey at RET with your OV-chipkaart, RET 1 day, RET 2 hours or barcode.

RET don't accept contactless as the ticket yet. The card being from the UK is immaterial. Once RET implement OVpay then you will be able to use your card. At the moment and for the foreseeable future, you can buy a ticket from the ticket machine using your card as usual.

 

[kentrailman]

According to

OVpay

www.ret.nl

RET don't accept contactless as the ticket yet. The card being from the UK is immaterial. Once RET implement OVpay then you will be able to use your card. At the moment and for the foreseeable future, you can buy a ticket from the ticket machine using your card as usual.

Thank you .

Shame it isn't still a train.

Hope the ticket machine really does take things other than maestro credit cards .. Remember being stuck at a Netherlands station in the past with nothing that would accept visa MasterCard etc or cash .. only Maestro cards.

 

[rvdborgt]

Hope the ticket machine really does take things other than maestro credit cards .. Remember being stuck at a Netherlands station in the past with nothing that would accept visa MasterCard etc or cash .. only Maestro cards.

AFAIK it takes credit cards. You can also buy a ticket online (credit cards accepted).
NS ticket machines have been accepting credit cards for quite some years now. Additionally, Maestro will be phased out everywhere out starting the second half of this year, which will improve Visa/MasterCard Debit and possibly also Visa/MasterCard credit cards (they work the same technically).

 

[DanielB]

@kentrailman Don't know when you'll be using the metro from Hoek van Holland, but it's currently expected that the last few remaining regions will implement OVpay this month.

 

[station_road]

Yes, the system is live and ticket inspectors are able to see that you're checked in.

Are there still many on-train ticket inspections? I spent most of last week travelling around the Netherlands by train (in 1st class) and didn't get checked once on board a train. Going back 10 years, it seemed rare not be checked on board during every trip.