Trains, Buses and Rules for Kings Night and Kings Day
NS is running its Oranje timetable for Kings Night and Kings Day, with extra trains and buses to Dokkum, where the royal family is celebrating, and a nationwide ban on alcohol at stations and on trains.
Kings Night on Sunday 26 April and Kings Day on Monday 27 April will see an expanded public transport schedule across the Netherlands, with NS running its special Oranje timetable and regional carriers Arriva, Qbuzz and Blauwnet all adding extra capacity. Travellers are advised to check departure times and platforms carefully, as routes and final destinations may differ from the regular timetable.
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Where the crowds will be
NS expects the biggest crowds this year around Amsterdam, Arnhem, Breda, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Zwolle and Dokkum. The royal family is visiting Dokkum, a Frisian town with no train station of its own. NS says Dokkum is best reached by bus from Leeuwarden station.
Qbuzz will run additional buses to and from Dokkum from Saturday through Monday. Arriva passengers heading to Dokkum can also travel by train to Feanwâlden on the Leeuwarden-Groningen line, where additional buses run to Dokkum from the adjacent bus station.
The Oranje timetable
NS is deploying extra trains and extra staff on various routes to assist travellers and keep trains and stations clean. Departure times and platforms may differ from the regular schedule, and on some routes travellers may need to transfer where they normally would not, or find fewer trains than usual. Some trains will also have a different final destination than in the regular timetable.
Arriva is running extended services across its network, including the night train between Zwolle and Schiphol on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. On Kings Night, the night train between Zwolle and Amsterdam Centraal also runs. OV-chipkaart is not valid on these night trains; tickets must be purchased in advance via an app or in the train from the steward, with a surcharge.
Rules: alcohol, bikes and access
As usual, it is not permitted to bring alcoholic drinks to stations or on trains anywhere in the country during the celebrations. This applies from Sunday 26 April at 19:00 until Tuesday 28 April at 07:00. Shops at stations will not sell alcohol during this period.
Stricter rules also apply to bicycles. The dal bicycle ticket is not valid all day on Kings Day, and on the Alphen aan den Rijn to Gouda route, bicycles are not permitted at all. These rules take effect from Sunday 26 April at 19:00 until Tuesday 28 April at 01:30.
Utrecht Centraal is only accessible from the city-centre side during Kings Night, with the Jaarbeurs entrance closed. At Breda station, OV travel assistance is unavailable from Sunday 26 April at 19:00 until Monday 28 April at 07:00.
Practical advice
NS advises travellers to check the journey planner shortly before departure, as situations can change quickly due to crowd levels. Extra NS staff will be on hand at busy stations to assist. The carrier has also called on passengers to take their own rubbish with them from trains, pointing to heavy littering in carriages during recent busy events.
