Amsterdam trains and Amsterdam Centraal Station
Discover how the trains work in Amsterdam and ticket options
Amsterdam Centraal station is the main rail hub of Amsterdam. If you are coming into Amsterdam from Schiphol airport it is quite likely that you will use the rail connection to Centraal station. If you are using the Eurostar this now terminates at Centraal station. Amsterdam therefore is very well served for the rail user.
Additionally, in Amsterdam, there are other rail stations including Amsterdam Zuid, Science Park, Sloterdijk and Lelyaan.
Amsterdam Centraal station could be considered the hub of transport in Amsterdam. It offers rail links from the airport, Eurostar, stations throughout the city and to towns and cities further afield. It also links up the rail, ferry, trams, bus and metro for Amsterdam travel.
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Schiphol Airport train station
Very regular trains run throughout the day and there are night trains for the late arrivals so you will not be stranded at the airport at any time.
Trains are located underneath the airport just a short walk from the departures area. The trains have space between seats and underneath for luggage. Usually, there is more space for passengers at the front and rear of the trains if the train you’re getting on appears particularly crowded.
You can buy your ticket at Schiphol Airport but you may have to queue, so many passengers prefer to buy their tickets online in advance.
You can buy a simple one-way or return ticket online. These currently cost €9.50 for a single. Unusually, this is a premium to buying on the day, but you do get a full cancellation refund up to a day before.
Buying on the day will cost you €5.90 which includes the €1 surcharge for a disposable ticket. It’s best not to buy a return unless you are returning on the same day.
Another way of using the train from Schiphol airport is to buy a tourist travel ticket. These includes the transfer and public transport in Amsterdam within one ticket for a set time length. There are two types of tickets and you can buy them online in advance using the links below. These products are usually sent by post so do bear that in mind when ordering. If you are last minute planning, you can buy these tickets at various outlets throughout Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Travel ticket
from- This includes transfer from Schiphol Airport using bus or train. You gain unlimited travel on NS Railway, can use the Amsterdam Airport Express bus (397) and Niteliner N97 from Connexxion. You then also get unlimited travel on all GVB’s public transport during your day in Amsterdam. These tickets come in 1, 2 and 3-day varieties.
Amsterdam & Regional Travel ticket
from- Unlimited travel for 1, 2 or 3 days from first check-in. Travel includes bus, tram and metro throughout Amsterdam and the region. Tickets are valid on all metro, tram and bus lines operated by GVB, Connexxion and EBS, including night buses and NS trains.
Amsterdam Centraal Station is the transport hub of Amsterdam. With rail, metro, tram, bus and ferry operations all accessed here.
Are trains in Amsterdam 24-hrs
When in Amsterdam as a visitor, you are more likely to be using the metro, buses, trams or canal boats to get around, so late trains outside the central area are not necessary.
There are night buses that serve the city once the day time service of the metro and trams has finished. There are also night trains to Schiphol Airport so you can catch any flight, morning or night.
For a full timetable of trains from Amsterdam visit the NS website
Where can you go to from Amsterdam by train
Within Holland, you can use the trains from Amsterdam Centraal Station to visit Rotterdam, Utrecht, Schagen, Arnhem, The Hague, Maastricht, Delft and Leiden among others.
Internationally, Amsterdam Centraal Station can get you to London, Paris, Eindhoven, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Brussels, Antwerp and more.
Check out our Eurostar page that focuses on getting to and from Amsterdam using the Eurostar. This takes just under 4-hours from London, making it a much more environmentally sustainable travel option than flying, and we are all for that.
It is easy to use Amsterdam as a base from which to explore the rest of Holland. Trains are an excellent way to explore Holland with a reliable network connecting all the major cities and beyond.
You can also use Amsterdam as a jumping off point to visit other close by countries by train.
Rail Europe offers a vast array of ticket options and routes for European exploration by train and includes a host of options from Amsterdam and Holland.
Amsterdam Centraal station
Used by over 250,000 passengers every day, Amsterdam Centraal station is the second busiest station in Holland.
The rail services are provided by Nederlandse Spoorwegan (NS) who are the main rail operator in Holland. The station has International and national routes that allow you to travel to many places of local and overseas interest
The building itself is a tourist attraction in its own right. It is a beautiful building with Renaissance/Gothic architecture which has echoes in the world famous Rijksmuseum, being designed by the same architect. As it a place to pick up lots of the public transport for Amsterdam and nearby to the central hotels, you’ll find yourself walking past or milling around the Centraal Station quite often your stay.
Inside you’ll find cafes, restaurants, ticket office, toilets, luggage lickers, shops, minimarkets, self-service ticket machines, and bike hire/repair facilities.
Amsterdam Centraal Station has 15 platforms which can each take two trains, so it is a large station by any description. As most visitors arrive in Centraal Station, the tourist office is located here and is a good place to at least pick up your free map of the city to help you get around.
How do you use the train in Amsterdam
Much like trains in the rest of the world, you can just turn up at the station, buy your ticket and get on the next train. It is possible to book tickets in advance and if you are planning a trip then booking online in advance certainly makes sense and can offer you savings over buying on the day.
If you buy your tickets online, you’ll print them out and save yourself a small amount compared to a buying on the day at the station. You can buy your tickets using the NS International website
There are self-service touch screen machines at the stations and most will have a ticket office too. As Holland uses the OV-chipkaart system for ticketing, if you do not have a OV card, you’ll receive a single-use paper OV-chipkaart for which there is a small surcharge. You can use debit/credit cards to pay.
Return fares are the same as two single fares and are valid on the same day, so there is no real financial saving there, just on ease of not buying a second ticket before your return.
Just like the metro, tram and buses you touch in as you enter the platform area of the station and touch out at the end of your journey. You must remember to do this to validate the ticket or you will in essence be travelling without a ticket and be liable to receiving a fine.
Children under 4 travel free and for children from 4-11 years old there is a discounted ‘railrunner’ ticket which gives them unlimited travel for that day.
