Railrunner

With a Kids Vrij Subscription, children aged 4 to 11 travel with you free of charge - even during peak hour. 

Also:

• Children up to age 3 travel free if not occupying a seat themselves
• Children aged 4 to 11 can travel independently in 2nd class with a Railrunner
• Children can travel 1st class if accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. Each accompanying adult can take 3 children with them, each with their own Railrunner.

All products subject to our general terms and conditions.

Using a Railrunner with an OV-chipkaart

You can buy a Railrunner easily by putting it on a child's OV-chipkaart. You can buy Railrunners from any NS ticket machines and service counters.

Railrunner on a single-use smart card

A single-use smart card is a paper ticket with a chip on it, accepted by all train operators. You do not need to put any money on this ticket, but you can check in and out with it and it will take you through closed platform gates easily. You can buy a Railrunner ticket as a single-use smart card at:

• NS ticket machines;
• NS-service counters.

Railrunner as e-ticket

You can also buy a Railrunner as an e-ticket online. Enter the journey details and the traveller's name and date of birth, then pay with iDEAL. Then download and print your e-ticket. Use this printout to board the train.

Read more about the e-ticket

If you have not got an OV-chipkaart (public transport smart card) yet, or your card is about to run out in the next 8 weeks, then you can order a personal or anonymous OV-chipkaart for € 7,50. Your OV-chipkaart will then be delivered to your home within 7 working days. You can also buy an anonymous OV-chipkaart from any NS ticket machine or service counter. Order an OV-chipkaart.

Checking in and out

Hold your card up to the free-standing post or gate to check in for your train journey; then repeat the process to check out when you reach your destination. You need to check in and out with each operator, i.e. if you change to bus, tram or metro. You should check out at an NS card reader before checking in with another operator.

How do I buy a Railrunner?

You can load a Railrunner as an individual ticket on a personal or anonymous OV-chipkaart, or you can buy this ticket as a single-use OV-chipkaart at any NS ticket machine or service counter. You can also order the Railrunner as an e-ticket online. Load this e-ticket into the NS app or print it out and take it with you on the train. An e-ticket is a personal ticket.

Is a Railrunner valid on international trains too?

Your child can travel with a Railrunner without paying a supplement on journeys by Intercity Berlin and ICE International in the Netherlands, and likewise on Intercity direct. Railrunner tickets are not valid on Eurostar.

How can I buy a personal or anonymous OV-chipkaart?

You can order a personal OV-chipkaart online. On this card you can load balance and products such as a Railrunner. Personal OV-chipkaarten are personal and non-transferable. If lost or stolen, your balance will be protected within 24 hours and you will get your balance back.

You can buy anonymous OV-chipkaarten at all NS service points and all OV-chipkaart outlets. Use the address finder to find out where all your local outlets are. Anonymous OV-chipkaarten cannot be blocked. You can put money on them and individual products like a Railrunner, for example.

I’d like to see my child onto the train at a station where the gates are closed. Can I do that?

Yes, even if the access gates are in use. You can pass through closed gates at a station if there's enough balance on your OV-chipkaart. As long as you check in and out within one hour, the boarding fare will be refunded.

Is my ticket a ‘through ticket’?

That depends. According to the European legislation, a ‘through ticket’ means that you have a single agreement for transport for you entire train journey. If your entire journey is by NS, for instance from The Hague to Den Helder or from Leiden to Waddinxveen, then your train ticket is indeed a ‘through ticket’. There is then a single agreement for carriage as a passenger by NS.

If you are travelling on a ticket covering multiple rail carriers, your ticket is not a ‘through ticket’ because there are separate agreements for carriage as a passenger with each of the rail carriers you use.

Example: you buy a ticket for a journey from ’s-Hertogenbosch to Boxmeer. For this, you need to change at Nijmegen. For the journey from ’s-Hertogenbosch to Nijmegen, your transport agreement is with NS because the rail carrier for that part of your journey is NS. When you change at Nijmegen for the Arriva train to Boxmeer, your transport agreement is with Arriva because the rail carrier for that part of your journey is Arriva.