Paper train tickets are no longer available from Wednesday morning and travellers must use a public transport smart card to check in and out.

Stations with gates, such as Amsterdam Centraal, are now closed off and there is no access to platforms without a smart card. Stations with check in devices on poles are still open to non-travellers.

Travellers without a public transport smart card (ov-chipkaart) – such as tourists and incidental train users – will have to buy a disposable card. Journeys with the disposable card will be €1 more expensive to cover the extra cost.

Rail users’ organisations are not happy about the phasing out of paper tickets. They say it is wrong that tourists and occasional users will have to pay more money to use the train.