I spend an hour on the train to Amsterdam two days a week. If I went by car, I would be on the road (depending on the time of day) for about 40 minutes. But I find the train a reasonable alternative, I can almost always sit down, often I can get some work done and it is sometimes delayed.
Costs:
€ 44 per week
Yes, each round trip costs me €22 and then I have an off-peak card that gives me a 40% discount.
The car is cheaper when it comes to travel costs. But if you include insurance, tax and depreciation, it doesn’t diverge that much. It does offer more flexibility and I can get anywhere by car. That combined with the rat race and our kids (training, dance class, scouting) gives me much more freedom.
Now the NS announced that the price of train tickets is going up substantially, and I wonder, is train travel becoming an expensive hobby? Something you do at special times because you don’t have to drive or have a day out and include it in your daily budget.
Because fair is fair, all the inconveniences of the train suddenly become a lot more inconvenient when the price goes up. How do I pay 22 euros if I have to stand for 2 hours between all the people. Delay again? And why is there all garbage on this train and the Wifi doesn’t work.
I tried to figure out the cost structure of the NS, and it hangs together from payments to the government and monies from the government. So vest pocket pocket pocket pocket. The conclusion the NS needs money to pay staff and maintenance and that has to be paid from the revenue from train tickets, it is a business case. One that some years made a lot of profit, but in the corona years there was a huge loss.
Why not take another look at this business case? So I wonder, with rising prices, will public transportation be accessible to all? And if I am already inclined to take the car more often then because of convenience, what about the rest of the Netherlands and our sustainability goals?
Perhaps it is time to see train travel as the primary mode of transportation rather than a cost that you automatically weigh against using a car. Not a hobby, but the perfect way to get from A to B and taking the car only in specific cases.
A nice thought, but probably a utopia. In any case, I am going to persevere stubbornly and get on that train twice a week with the other hobbyists.
