The main train station in Maastricht is the Maastricht Central station. This is located in the Wyck neighbourhood in the city centre. The other two stations in Maastricht are Maastricht Noord in the neighbourhood of Nazareth, and Maastricht Randwyck, in Randwyck. The Randwyck train station is located right in front of the FHML and FPN campuses.
There are two train companies operating out of Maastricht, NS and Arriva. The NS trains link the cities within the Netherlands through a broad train network. For example, if you are going to Utrecht or Amsterdam, you should take the NS train there. Arriva provides regional public transport, expanding into Germany and Belgium.
When travelling by train using your OV-chipcard, always remember to “tap-in” and “tap-out” on the platform before getting on to your train. Train stations have both NS and Arriva stands where you can check-in and check-out with your OV-chipcard. If you are switching from NS to Arriva or vice versa, remember to tap-out of one carrier and tap-in onto the next one.
Booking train tickets
You can use the official NS website to book train tickets or check schedules. In addition to buying tickets online, you can also buy them directly from the train station from the blue and yellow NS ticket machines. With the OV-chip card, you don’t need to book in advance, you can just tap-in when getting on the train and tap-out when getting off. For international journeys, make sure to book through NS International. Even if you have the OV-chip card, you will have to purchase a separate ticket when traveling to a different country.
You can check out the Arriva journey planner or the NS journey planner.
