Train travellers in Friesland and Groningen will no longer be able to buy tickets with cash at stations in the future.
Translation by Traci White
Plans to replace the current ticket machines with cashless ones were originally announced in July, but the transition away from cash payments will take until 2024.
According to Omrop Fryslân, a number of travel organisations are objecting to removing the option to pay with cash. “Some travellers prefer to pay in cash for a variety of reasons, and making it impossible to pay in cash will cause problems for them”, says Rikus Spithorst of Maatschappij voor beter OV (Better Public Transport Association).
In response, Arriva says that most travellers on public transportation are accustomed to paying with credit cards: Arriva already transitioned to card only payments on their buses in December of last year.