Full Version: Trams in the dam
Just wondering how they work. Have been a few times but have never used the trams. I know you have to get a strippenkaart but just want to know, what way it works? Do you have to know where you're going and buy one for that destination?
heres a tip for ya dont get stupid stoned and get your bike wheel stuck in the tram track when i tram is heading straight towards you. Take it from me its not funny (unless your watching)!
LS -
LS -
haha, I would pay to see that!
QUOTE (LargeSalad @ May 26 2009, 09:29 PM) 
heres a tip for ya dont get stupid stoned and get your bike wheel stuck in the tram track when i tram is heading straight towards you. Take it from me its not funny (unless your watching)!
LS -
LS -
FROPMSL
The strippencart has 10 or 12 segments i dont recall exactly
It costs 1 segment / strip to get on the tram and then 1 per zone - pretty much every trip you make will be in the central zone so it will cost 2 strips, longer trips will cost 3 (maybe costs 3 to get to Greenhouse from the station iirc).
You can punch your strippencart yourself , get on by the driver and ask him to do it or get on halfway up the tram and goto the little kiosk.
It costs 1 segment / strip to get on the tram and then 1 per zone - pretty much every trip you make will be in the central zone so it will cost 2 strips, longer trips will cost 3 (maybe costs 3 to get to Greenhouse from the station iirc).
You can punch your strippencart yourself , get on by the driver and ask him to do it or get on halfway up the tram and goto the little kiosk.
ok mate, sounds handy enough. Cheers.
Ha ha .. most times I went to the Dam I got far too wasted to work out the complexities of strippenkaarts, trams and busses and just wandered around, from coffee shop to coffee shop .. I now know Amsterdam like the back of my hand. A couple of years ago I decided to brave the public transport, and it's actually a doddle. My Mum lives in Holland now, which is well handy. Anyhoo, was gonna type up some tips, but found this on hiptravelguide.com which pretty much explains it:
QUOTE
The best way to pay for public transport in the Netherlands is to purchase a strippenkaart, available in most tobacco shops, post offices or any railway ticket office. These multiuse tickets allow travel on any city bus, tram or metro in Holland.
You must have these strips stamped when you board, either by using a yellow machine, or by the conductor in front or back of a tram or a bus conductor. To use the machine you fold over the kaart to the line you want stamped, and insert it into the horizontal slot until you hear the "ding." The penalty for not having a valid ticket with stamp is around 30 Euros. And they do check when you least expect it!
The most difficult part of the strippenkaart is figuring out the proper way to stamp it. As you can see in the sample at left, there are 15 spaces for stamps (A 45 space kaart is also available). If you are staying in the same zone, you need to have it stamped two lines down from the last stamp. Note the first row is in red, indicating that would not be valid stamp. Two lines is the minimum.
Now if your trip takes you out of your zone into the next one, you must stamp it 3 lines down. Likewise a trip involving 3 zones would require a stamp four lines down.
If you're not sure how many zones you're going, you can either look on a map which usually has the zones outlined. Or if you're getting on a tram or bus you can tell the conductor your destination, and they'll put the proper stamp. If you know how many zones your trip is, tell the conductor (one zone please) and they'll make the appropriate stamp.
If you're staying in Amsterdam's Centrum, within the outer canal ring, it's all one zone, so you just need to stamp it two lines down.
The stamp is good for one hour for one to three zones, longer if your trip takes you thru more zones. This info is on the back of the strippenkaart. So you could conceivably take a trip somewhere, do what you need to do, and return all with just one stamp! In addition the stamp includes any transfers even if you're getting on another form of transport like bus to metro or tram.
So why bother with this? Well you'll save money and hassle because the strippenkaarts (6.20 Euros for 7 short trips) work out to less than 1 Euro per trip, as opposed to about $1.30 or 1.40 Euros if you pay for each trip separately. You can also pay for your companion(s) using the strippenkaart, just stamp it more times for each person.
If you get to the end of your strippenkaart, and there's just one space left, you can still use that (as every Dutch person would), by stamping that one, plus one line on another strippenkaart. That would equal the required two lines for a one zone trip, so you wouldn't waste it!
If you're a student or senior or get in on some discount plan, you can purchase monthly or yearly discounts, and you'll get a photo ID so you don't need to pay everytime, just flash your card. Discounted strippenkaarts available for those over 65 (with valid ID), students and children aged 4-11.
You must have these strips stamped when you board, either by using a yellow machine, or by the conductor in front or back of a tram or a bus conductor. To use the machine you fold over the kaart to the line you want stamped, and insert it into the horizontal slot until you hear the "ding." The penalty for not having a valid ticket with stamp is around 30 Euros. And they do check when you least expect it!
The most difficult part of the strippenkaart is figuring out the proper way to stamp it. As you can see in the sample at left, there are 15 spaces for stamps (A 45 space kaart is also available). If you are staying in the same zone, you need to have it stamped two lines down from the last stamp. Note the first row is in red, indicating that would not be valid stamp. Two lines is the minimum.
Now if your trip takes you out of your zone into the next one, you must stamp it 3 lines down. Likewise a trip involving 3 zones would require a stamp four lines down.
If you're not sure how many zones you're going, you can either look on a map which usually has the zones outlined. Or if you're getting on a tram or bus you can tell the conductor your destination, and they'll put the proper stamp. If you know how many zones your trip is, tell the conductor (one zone please) and they'll make the appropriate stamp.
If you're staying in Amsterdam's Centrum, within the outer canal ring, it's all one zone, so you just need to stamp it two lines down.
The stamp is good for one hour for one to three zones, longer if your trip takes you thru more zones. This info is on the back of the strippenkaart. So you could conceivably take a trip somewhere, do what you need to do, and return all with just one stamp! In addition the stamp includes any transfers even if you're getting on another form of transport like bus to metro or tram.
So why bother with this? Well you'll save money and hassle because the strippenkaarts (6.20 Euros for 7 short trips) work out to less than 1 Euro per trip, as opposed to about $1.30 or 1.40 Euros if you pay for each trip separately. You can also pay for your companion(s) using the strippenkaart, just stamp it more times for each person.
If you get to the end of your strippenkaart, and there's just one space left, you can still use that (as every Dutch person would), by stamping that one, plus one line on another strippenkaart. That would equal the required two lines for a one zone trip, so you wouldn't waste it!
If you're a student or senior or get in on some discount plan, you can purchase monthly or yearly discounts, and you'll get a photo ID so you don't need to pay everytime, just flash your card. Discounted strippenkaarts available for those over 65 (with valid ID), students and children aged 4-11.
That's very usefull info mate. Cheers
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