Amsterdam to Maastricht with Non protected Priv

[theageofthetra]

Hi I understand there are some services in the Maastricht area which are not NS operated. Can I use my Priv and vouchers on them? If I can't how do I get my FIP discount given the lack of ticket offices in the Netherlands?

Thanks

 

[DanielB]

According to the Rail Delivery Group FIP is only valid at NS in the Netherlands. Not a problem for Amsterdam - Maastricht however as all IC services are NS operated. Only the local services are operated by Arriva.
Special case would be the train to Liège which is an Arriva train operating under the NS franchise so FIP tickets to Eijsden would be possible I presume.

There are plenty of ticket offices in the Amsterdam area to get FIP discounted tickets from. And Maastricht has an OV servicewinkel which is a combined ticket office of NS and Arriva.

 

[Bemined]

Not a problem for Amsterdam - Maastricht however as all IC services are NS operated.

Arriva actually does run one train per week from Amsterdam to Maastricht, on Saturdays at around 5:15 in the morning.

 

[DanielB]

Arriva actually does run one train per week from Amsterdam to Maastricht, on Saturdays at around 5:15 in the morning.

Though that one isn't classed as IC and I wrote all ICs are NS operated
It's an odd one anyway as standard domestic tickets are not valid on that service .

 

[rvdborgt]

Special case would be the train to Liège which is an Arriva train operating under the NS franchise so FIP tickets to Eijsden would be possible I presume.

I'd also see it that way. The only reason that NS is still involved in that train is the fact that they are in fact the operator between Maastricht and the border.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Similarly, the local trains in Limburg (eg. to Aachen) operated by Arriva would in principle not be covered by Priv. It maybe that the conductor would accept them anyway, but officiailly not permitted.

 

[ricohallo]

FIP discount and FIP coupons are only valid on NS services, which are practically all intercity services to Maastricht and Heerlen, as well as the Maastricht to Liège train, even though it's operated by an Arriva EMU. It is NOT possible to buy a FIP discounted ticket from Heerlen (or even Aachen) to Liège however, as the part between Aachen and Maastricht is operated by Arriva themselves who do not accept FIP facilities. In this case you would be fine buying a full fare ticket from Heerlen (or Aachen) to Maastricht and combining it with a FIP discounted ticket from Maastricht to Liège or NS and SNCB boxes. The local trains in the region (Maastricht Randwyck - Roermond/Kerkrade, Sittard - Heerlen, Roermond - Venlo - Nijmegen) are Arriva operated, as well as the RE train Aachen - Heerlen - Maastricht (which continues to Liège as an NS operated train to the border and from the border as an SNCB operated train). Rover tickets for buses and trains in the region are available for off-peak travel (Peak hours are Mo-Fr 06:30-09:00 and 16:00-18:30 for trains and 04:00-09:00 for buses, no restrictions on Sa and Su), such as this one for everything operated by Arriva south of Roermond, including cross-border to Aachen: https://product.arriva.nl/eticket/d?ticket_type_id=77.
It's also available in ticket machines and on buses (though make sure to ask for train and bus), card payment only. And presumably possible to buy with cash at Arriva ticket offices.

Buying FIP discounted tickets is only possible at NS ticket offices, as mentioned already there is one in both Amsterdam and Maastricht. Even though Arriva ticket machines sell tickets to everywhere in the country, Arriva ticket offices don't, so it's not possible to buy FIP discounted tickets there.

 

[theageofthetra]

FIP discount and FIP coupons are only valid on NS services, which are practically all intercity services to Maastricht and Heerlen, as well as the Maastricht to Liège train, even though it's operated by an Arriva EMU. It is NOT possible to buy a FIP discounted ticket from Heerlen (or even Aachen) to Liège however, as the part between Aachen and Maastricht is operated by Arriva themselves who do not accept FIP facilities. In this case you would be fine buying a full fare ticket from Heerlen (or Aachen) to Maastricht and combining it with a FIP discounted ticket from Maastricht to Liège or NS and SNCB boxes. The local trains in the region (Maastricht Randwyck - Roermond/Kerkrade, Sittard - Heerlen, Roermond - Venlo - Nijmegen) are Arriva operated, as well as the RE train Aachen - Heerlen - Maastricht (which continues to Liège as an NS operated train to the border and from the border as an SNCB operated train). Rover tickets for buses and trains in the region are available for off-peak travel (Peak hours are Mo-Fr 06:30-09:00 and 16:00-18:30 for trains and 04:00-09:00 for buses, no restrictions on Sa and Su), such as this one for everything operated by Arriva south of Roermond, including cross-border to Aachen: https://product.arriva.nl/eticket/d?ticket_type_id=77.
It's also available in ticket machines and on buses (though make sure to ask for train and bus), card payment only. And presumably possible to buy with cash at Arriva ticket offices.

Buying FIP discounted tickets is only possible at NS ticket offices, as mentioned already there is one in both Amsterdam and Maastricht. Even though Arriva ticket machines sell tickets to everywhere in the country, Arriva ticket offices don't, so it's not possible to buy FIP discounted tickets there.

Thanks. So to travel Maastricht to Nijmegen I'll just need to buy a regular single ticket as it's Arriva?

 

[dutchflyer]

You can make that trip all the way on NS too-with a detour, change den Bosch, goes via Eindhoven. More comfy IC-trains all the way.
You CAN do it on ARV if you really want to-like for the experience, on local short stopping trains-via/change @ Roermond-via Venlo.
UNless you really want that printed ticket-cost 1€ more, just use you bank/crdt card to check in+out On the RIGHT operators masts/gates.
NS will also sell via its site advance reduced-rate tickets, on less wanted times (with a specified period in which to use, not a specific train) and these can work out maybe even cheaper as your FIP-discounts.
There is also a special EUREGIO dayticket for that 3 countries area which cost a little more as just ARV-NL only. Then you could do a triangle round trip Mstr-Liege-Aachen-back to Mstr.
There is also a very frequent (one of the most frequent INTernational buslinks in the whole world-mostly ev 15 mins daytime) ARV-busline Mstr-Aachen, more direct as the trainline and even a few mins faster.
Due to serious staff-shortages ARV pretty often has to cancel some of its trains Heerlen-Aachen-this will only be noted the day before-if at all. The basic hourly service remains mostly.

 

[ricohallo]

Thanks. So to travel Maastricht to Nijmegen I'll just need to buy a regular single ticket as it's Arriva?

I'd recommend taking the detour @dutchflyer suggested, it's about 30 minutes longer but the trains are much more comfortable and it's all NS so you can use FIP. If you do take the shorter route with Arriva you can take an NS train with FIP discount/boxes to Roermond and buy a regular ticket from Roermond to Nijmegen.

There is also a special EUREGIO dayticket for that 3 countries area which cost a little more as just ARV-NL only. Then you could do a triangle round trip Mstr-Liege-Aachen-back to Mstr.

Yes, this ticket is very good value as well and on Saturday, Sunday and (Dutch, German or Belgian) holidays it's valid for 2 persons on all buses and many trains in the border region.

https://avv.de/de/service/downloads?file=files/avv/files/tickets/flyer/euregioticket.pdf

Due to serious staff-shortages ARV pretty often has to cancel some of its trains Heerlen-Aachen-this will only be noted the day before-if at all. The basic hourly service remains mostly.

This is indeed true. There are currently many cancellations for Arriva services and this will probably continue to be the case for a while. Usually the RE trains between Heerlen and Maastricht are the first to get axed, trains to Aachen are regularly cancelled too. So don't rely on the RE18 between Aachen and Maastricht and check right before you travel. The local stopping (RS) services sometimes get cancelled too but that's a less regular occurrence. If you travel between Heerlen and Maastricht with Arriva it's best to plan with one of the stopping services instead of the faster RE. It will usually run on the part from Maastricht to Liège, though.

 

[theageofthetra]

I'd recommend taking the detour @dutchflyer suggested, it's about 30 minutes longer but the trains are much more comfortable and it's all NS so you can use FIP. If you do take the shorter route with Arriva you can take an NS train with FIP discount/boxes to Roermond and buy a regular ticket from Roermond to Nijmegen.


Yes, this ticket is very good value as well and on Saturday, Sunday and (Dutch, German or Belgian) holidays it's valid for 2 persons on all buses and many trains in the border region.

https://avv.de/de/service/downloads?file=files/avv/files/tickets/flyer/euregioticket.pdf

This is indeed true. There are currently many cancellations for Arriva services and this will probably continue to be the case for a while. Usually the RE trains between Heerlen and Maastricht are the first to get axed, trains to Aachen are regularly cancelled too. So don't rely on the RE18 between Aachen and Maastricht and check right before you travel. The local stopping (RS) services sometimes get cancelled too but that's a less regular occurrence. If you travel between Heerlen and Maastricht with Arriva it's best to plan with one of the stopping services instead of the faster RE. It will usually run on the part from Maastricht to Liège, though.

Thanks for the information