Government moves towards cheaper off-peak rail travel to boost public transport use

The Cabinet will work towards cheaper train tickets outside peak hours. Prime Minister Rob Jetten said during a debate on measures to offset high energy costs that he aims to have this in place for the upcoming summer months. The idea for reduced fares was earlier proposed by GroenLinks-PvdA, and government sources had already indicated that the Cabinet was open to considering it.

GroenLinks–PvdA leader Jesse Klaver proposes that an off-peak train ticket should cost 49 euros for three months. Such a subscription “is probably feasible,” Jetten said. “We are therefore very willing to take this up and to ensure that we can achieve this together with the public transport companies in the short term.”

The government has already said that a group of public transport leaders will examine how to improve the affordability of public transport. However, a large majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, is pushing for quicker and more concrete plans.

“I understand the call from Parliament to introduce a temporary measure in the shorter term to make public transport more attractive,” Jetten said. “And perhaps also to persuade many people to leave their cars more often, use public transport more frequently, and hopefully become permanent users of public transport.”

The proposal has been loosely compared to Germany’s Deutschland-Ticket, which allows unlimited travel on regional public transport for a fixed monthly fee. However, the Dutch plan under discussion focuses on discounted off-peak travel rather than a fully unlimited national subscription.