General
The National strip ticket (in Dutch: Nationale Strippenkaart) replaced in 1980 all the regional bustickets. From then on the strip ticket was valid in almost all buses, trams and subways in The Netherlands. The strip ticket was also valid on a number of railway routes.
The Netherlands was divided into a large number of zones. The number of strips that had to be validated equaled the numbers of zones plus one.
Strip tickets could be bought in advance at post offices, stations and shops. Strip tickets could also be purchased from the driver. It was also possible to buy strip tickets from ticket vending machines. Strip tickets bought in advance were blue (full fare) and pink (reduced fare). Strip tickets purchased form a driver were grey.
Strip tickets purchased from a driver were more expensive than strip tickets bought in advance. This was to prevent people from buying their tickets in the bus or tram. This would deminishe the chances of delays. The first years drivers didn't sell "small" strip tickets as well. It wasn't possible to buy a single for a short journey. The smallest ticket a driver could sell were tickets with 6 strips. Usually, for a journey in a city only two or three strips were needed. In april 1985 a small scale test started with the sales of 2 and 3-strip tickets. A year later these tickets were introduced everywhere in The Netherlands.
Tickets
The pages with examples of strip tickets open in a new window:
Validators in bus and tram
Fares
| Date | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 45 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-04-1980 | x | x | x | x | x | ƒ 5.00 | x | ƒ 2.50 |
| 01-10-1980 | x | x | ƒ 2.85 | x | ƒ 4.75 | ƒ 5.35 | x | ƒ 2.70 |
| 01-05-1981 | x | x | ƒ 3.00 | x | ƒ 5.00 | ƒ 5.60 | x | ƒ 2.80 |
| 01-10-1981 | x | x | ƒ 3.30 | x | ƒ 5.50 | ƒ 6.00 | x | ƒ 3.00 |
| 01-04-1982 | x | x | ƒ 3.55 | x | ƒ 5.90 | ƒ 6.00 | x | ƒ 3.00 |
| 01-10-1982 | x | x | ƒ 4.00 | x | ƒ 6.50 | ƒ 6.30 | x | ƒ 3.15 |
| 01-04-1983 | x | x | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 7.40 | ƒ 7.10 | x | ƒ 3.55 |
| 01-04-1984 | x | x | ƒ 4.75 | x | ƒ 7.85 | ƒ 7.55 | x | ƒ 3.80 |
| 01-04-1985 | ƒ 1.60 | ƒ 2.40 | ƒ 4.80 | x | ƒ 8.00 | ƒ 8.05 | x | ƒ 4.05 |
| 01-04-1986 | ƒ 1.70 | ƒ 2.55 | x | x | ƒ 8.40 | ƒ 8.45 | ƒ 24.75 | ƒ 4.25 |
| 01-04-1987 | ƒ 1.75 | ƒ 2.60 | x | x | ƒ 8.65 | ƒ 8.65 | ƒ 25.35 | ƒ 4.35 |
| 01-01-1989 | ƒ 1.80 | ƒ 2.65 | x | x | ƒ 8.85 | ƒ 8.85 | ƒ 25.85 | ƒ 4.45 |
| 01-04-1990 | ƒ 1.85 | ƒ 2.70 | x | x | ƒ 9.00 | ƒ 9.05 | ƒ 26,35 | ƒ 4.55 |
| 01-01-1991 | ƒ 2.00 | ƒ 2.85 | x | x | ƒ 9.50 | ƒ 9.35 | ƒ 27.25 | ƒ 4.70 |
| 01-09-1991 | ƒ 2.00 | ƒ 2.85 | x | x | ƒ 9.50 | ƒ 9.65 | ƒ 28.15 | ƒ 4.85 |
| 01-01-1992 | ƒ 2.25 | ƒ 3.25 | x | x | ƒ 10.25 | ƒ 10.25 | ƒ 29.00 | ƒ 5.00 |
| 01-09-1992 | ƒ 2.75 | ƒ 4.25 | x | ƒ 11.00 | x | ƒ 10.25 | ƒ 29.00 | ƒ 5.00 |
| 01-01-1993 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.25 | x | ƒ 11.50 | x | ƒ 10.75 | ƒ 31.00 | ƒ 5.50 |
| 01-01-1994 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 11.00 | ƒ 32.25 | ƒ 5.75 |
| 01-01-1995 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 11.00 | ƒ 32.25 | ƒ 6.00 |
| 01-01-1996 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 11.00 | ƒ 32.25 | ƒ 6.25 |
| 01-01-1997 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 11.25 | ƒ 33.00 | ƒ 6.75 |
| 01-01-1998 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 11.50 | ƒ 33.75 | ƒ 6.75 |
| 01-01-1999 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 11.75 | ƒ 34.50 | ƒ 7.00 |
| 01-01-2000 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 12.00 | ƒ 35.25 | ƒ 7.25 |
| 01-01-2001 | ƒ 3.00 | ƒ 4.50 | x | ƒ 12.00 | x | ƒ 12.50 | ƒ 36.75 | ƒ 7.75 |
| 01-01-2002 | € 1.40 | € 2,10 | x | € 5.60 | x | € 5.90 | € 17.40 | € 3.70 |
| 01-01-2003 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 6.20 | € 18.30 | € 3.90 |
| 01-01-2004 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 6.40 | € 18.90 | € 4.20 |
| 01-01-2005 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 6.50 | € 19.20 | € 4.30 |
| 01-01-2006 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 6.70 | € 19.80 | € 4.40 |
| 01-01-2007 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 6.80 | € 20,10 | € 4.50 |
| 01-01-2008 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 6.90 | € 20.40 | € 4.60 |
| 01-01-2009 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 7.30 | € 21.60 | € 4.80 |
| 01-01-2010 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 7.60 | € 22.50 | € 5.00 |
| 01-01-2011 | € 1.60 | € 2.40 | x | € 6.40 | x | € 7.70 | € 22.80 | € 5.00 |
| full fare, sale from driver | |
| full fare, presale | |
| reduced fare, presale |
The reduced fare is valid for:
- children aged 4 - 11 years (untill april 1987: 4 - 9 years)
- persons aged 65 years and over
- students (only on those times they are not eligibale for free travel)
- dogs
- bicycles (only on some metro and railway lines)
Railway
The strip ticket could be used in the 2nd class of several railway lines in The Netherlands and even to Leer in Germany.
- Metropolitan area of Amsterdam
- Metropolitan area of Rotterdam
- Metropolitan area of The Hague
- Metropolitan area of Utrecht
- Southern part of the province of Limburg
- Provinces of Groningen and Friesland
- Achterhoek and Twente area
- Zwolle - Kampen
Until the introduction of the OV-chipkaart every railway station had yellow validators ("stempelautomaat" in Dutch) for train tickets without a printed date. The validators on the above lines could also be used for validating strip tickets. Usually a sign was added above the validator to show the number of strips needed to a certain destination.
Groene Persil
In 1985 Green Persil (Groene Persil) was introduced to the Dutch market. This was the first washing powder without phosphate in the Netherlands. It was more environment friendly than existing washing powders. Two years later a free strip ticket was given away as a promotional gift to buyers of Green Persil. This strip ticket was enclosed in the packaging.
This strip ticket had almost the same validity as a "normal" strip ticket. During weekdays this ticket was not valid between 7 and 9 am. The last day of this promotional activity was March 31st 1988.
Download the Groene Persil leaflet. [pdf, opens in a new window]
Music and art
Sjakie Schram (1927 - 1989) was a singer from Amsterdam. He became famous in The Netherlands in 1966 with a song called "Glaasje op, laat je rijden" ("Had a drink, let someone else drive"). This song reached the number 2 position in the Dutch charts. In 1980 he released a song about the just introduced strip ticket, "Overal met je strippenkaart" ("Everywhere with your strip ticket"). He released the song for a second time in 1984. The song wasn't successful.
Take a look at the lyrics. [opens in a new window]
In 1990 Dutch artist Rob Scholte made a screen print of a Strip ticket [opens in a new window] in an edition of 125 signed pieces.
The end
In 2009 the abolishment of the strip ticket was started. The strip ticket was replaced by a smard card, the OV-chipkaart. Rotterdam and Amsterdam were the first cities where the OV-chipkaart was the only valid transport ticket. In november 2011 the strip ticket was abolished in the last regions.
However the province of Zeeland decided to cease the sales of driver sold strip tickets on 1 January 2012. It was replaced by a regional strip ticket which was sold by the driver.
| Date of abolition | Area | Means of transport |
|---|---|---|
| 29-01-2009 | Rotterdam | metro |
| 27-08-2009 | Amsterdam | metro |
| 11-02-2010 | Rotterdam area | bus, tram and train |
| 03-06-2010 | Amsterdam area | bus, tram and train |
| 19-05-2011 | province of Zuid-Holland | bus and tram |
| 30-06-2011 | provinces of Overijssel, Gelderland, Friesland, Flevoland and Noord-Holland | bus and train |
| 07-07-2011 | provinces of Zeeland (pre-sale only) and Limburg | bus |
| 03-11-2011 | province of Groningen, Utrecht, Drenthe and Noord-Brabant | bus, tram and train |
| 01-01-2012 | province of Zeeland | bus |