The OV-chipkaart is the payment system for public transport in the Netherlands. You load credit in Euro onto the card or add a travel product such as a monthly pass for commuting or a season ticket. At the start of your journey you check in and at the end you check out again.

Two kinds of cards

There are two different cards, a personal OV-chipkaart and an anonymous OV-chipkaart. It is still possible to buy disposable tickets for some public transport companies.

Read more about which OV-chipkaart is right for you

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Before travelling you need to load your OV-chipkaart with credit (an amount in Euro) or add a travel product such as a day ticket or pass. You do this at a device or counter. In Hoofddorp Winkelstad at the following shops or device:

• Primera Hoofddorp aan het Polderplein 3 
• Boekhandel Stevens aan de nieuweweg 62
• Albert Heijn XL op het Burgemeester van Stamplein 270
• Next to the busstop on the Burgermeester Van Stamplein

Checking in and checking out

At the start of your journey, hold your card against the screen on a gate or card reader in the bus, train or tram. If you have sufficient credit or a valid travel product on your card, the gate will open or the card reader will beep and a green light will show to signal that you can enter. At the end of your journey, hold your OV-chipkaart against a gate or card reader again to check out. The display will show the cost of your journey and how much credit is left on your card.

Read more about travelling with the OV-chipkaart