Validity of tickets
See which rail carriers will accept your ticket. This can vary for national and international routes. It can also depend on the carrier company with which you are travelling.
Arriva, Breng, Keolis, Connexxion, Qbuzz and DB Regionalbahn Westfalen
The regional carriers Arriva, Breng, Syntus, Connexxion, Qbuzz and DB Regionalbahn Westfalen provide some of the train transport in the Netherlands. The following principles apply for the transport carried out by these regional carriers:
- NS season tickets are valid on these routes. This means that you can travel with a discount aboard these regional rail carriers using an NS season ticket on your OV chipkaart.
Please note: When you check in with NS using an NS season ticket during off-peak hours, and then transfer to a Qbuzz train during peak hours, then unfortunately you cannot travel with your season ticket discount aboard the Qbuzz train due to a technical malfunction. Contact NS Customer Service to request a refund for the extra amount. - The Fietskaart Dal, Dagkaart hond and the Railrunner are also valid on routes run by these regional carriers.
- At NS ticket machines, you can purchase single-use chipkaart tickets to all stations in the Netherlands. When you purchase a one-way or return ticket, there may be multiple possible routes to your destination. The prices for each route may differ. If you choose one route when you buy your ticket, then the (regional) carriers with which your ticket is valid will be shown on the ticket. If you buy the free route choice ticket, Then your ticket will be valid for all regional and national rail carriers.
- The NS terms and conditions (AVR-NS) do not apply on routes run by regional carriers. Here, the Terms and Conditions for urban and regional travel apply.
- You can see which carriers run on which routes in the Travel planner.
National trains
The overview of all available tickets shows which carriers and/or routes accept NS tickets.