Fines will rise 40% for using public transport without a ticket

Starting today, anyone caught traveling on a train, bus, metro, or tram without a valid ticket will face a 40 percent higher fine. Effective October 1, the fine for fare dodging increased from 50 euros up to 70 euros.

When the fine is unpaid for more than 14 days, an additional administrative fee of 20 euros will be added to the original amount. Currently, that fee is 15 euros.

Both increases are a Cabinet decision. The last time the fine for traveling without a ticket was raised was in April 2016.

The number of fines issued has been rising for years, according to national railway NS. In 2022, 180,949 passengers were fined for fare dodging. In 2024, that number soared to 353,063. This year, the NS expects to issue approximately 400,000 fines for traveling without paying.

The fine increase is necessary to address more than the problem of fare dodging, said caretaker Infrastructure State Secretary Thierry Aartsen. "We see that fare dodgers are also the ones who cause trouble, commit violence, and fuel that unsafe feeling on public transport. This is the first sign that we want public transport to be safe again," he wrote.

Aartsen believes the changes will be enough of a deterrent to keep people who cause problems for station workers, the staff members handling transportation, and the passengers trying to travel in peace.

"It is really time that public transport becomes safe again," the VVD politician said.