How are the Dutch using trains to create a megacity? | Navigating Urban Transit with George Liu

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

🔔 CORRECTION NOTICE: Hey! Quick heads up, at 00:40 in the video, there's a mistake in the script. It's actually "17 Billion passenger kilometres per year," not "17 Billion passengers per year." Sorry about that!

[@EricErs22]

Thank you for the correction!

[@allws9683]

This is way too much hallelujah. 1: De Randstad is not an 'entity'. It has not a 'mayor', not a dedicated budget responsibility . It is split in 2 loose cooperating wings of communities, Norht and South ...etc. 2: A great majority of people commute by car, not by train. (like 4:1) Even in the Randstad. 3: There are considerable problems with the train infrastructure. Many train lines are laid on unstable "peat' soil , that cannot handle the high frequency, the aspirational speed and the bigger length and weight of the trains ! They are big obstacles for better rail transit in the region (and the country in general ).

[@FrankHeuvelman]

Go shame yourself.

[@wimahlers]

​@@allws9683 [] ... 3: There are considerable problems with the train infrastructure. The "problem" with the train infrastructure is its success. As we speak there currently is not enough personnel to handle the peak hour commuters. And, at certain locations, there is not enough railroad and facilities to handle capacity. All these problems are currently worked on. On a side note, your so called "soil" problems is not an issue at all but a characteristic of the landscape. It is something that must be addressed but it is not a problem. [] ... 2: A great majority of people commute by car, not by train. (like 4:1) And that is a problem. I don't know about the 4:1 ratio but I guesstimate that half of the commuter drivers actually do not need a car for their commute. They can easily use alternatives like train, bicycle, e-bike, pedalec, electric moped, bus, tram and subway. The car is used only out of habit, people preferring privacy, and public transportation may add to the perception(!) of extra cost. Travel time usually is not an issue during rush hours. Public transportation might often be even faster. Of course you can always present some example of some person living somewhere in the country having some job that actually needs a private car for its commute. But that is the exception, not the rule.

[@heelgraag]

That's not the only typo. around 01:58 you say that countless neighborhoods have been demolished because they had to make room for the automobiel. Here is where you show a picture of how the first metro in Amsterdam being built..... OEPS. Look at a recent map, there is no road there, just a canal

[@NotJustBikes]

0:33 I looked a lot younger back then. Every subscriber is a new grey hair. 👴

[@PanzerkampfwagenVITigerIAusfE]

you are in every urbanism video

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

You must be so proud of your grey hair then! 👏

[@rsa8611]

The Hague is not primarily a business city, most government institutions are based there, and the King lives there. (Big) Business is mostly located in Amsterdam and Utrecht (mostly financial and business to business services) and Rotterdam (import/export)

[@viderethevaccinatorfromhol7536]

Our biggest business and our most high-tech company isn't even located in the Randstad 😅

[@yellfire]

"The Hague the center of Business and Governance . . . " shouldve been "The Hague center of Governance and host to International Organizations dedicated to peace and security"

[@ScramJett]

@@yellfire “The Hague center of governance and host to international organizations dedicated to peace and security. Oh, and the US had offices there too.” Fixed it for you. (I’m American, btw)

[@evo3s75]

@@ScramJett wow, we didn't know that you were American. totally not the stereotypical need to insert yourselves into literally *everything* already told us that..

[@whateverIwasthinkingatthetime]

​@@ScramJettYou really were a good pick to sneak onto earth were you?

[@theenergizer248]

In the 1970's I lived in the Rotterdam suburbs, taken the Metro to Rotterdam Central Station, then by train to The Hague, then from The Hague central by tram to school. All up travel 65 to 70 minutes. Very efficient. Homework for school was made inside the train together with other students.No time was wasted.

[@miatx6818]

Fun fact “De Randstad” litteraly mean “The Edge City” Many people think this name comes from that it lies on the edge of the western Netherlands. Thats partly true it is on the edge of Holland but thats not where the name comes from. The name comes from what lies in the Randstad. Its called “Het Groene Hart” or in English “The Green Heart” and its a major green part and area in the provinces of North and South Holland. The cities where made on the Rand (edge) of the Groene Hart. Now this metropolis is home to more than half of the dutch Population. Around 8 million or more people. Its one of the most densely populated city agglomerations in Europe along with the Flemish Diamond in Belgium (home to Antwerp,Brussels,Leuven, Mechelen and Ghent), Ruhr area in Germany (home to Cologne, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Duisburg, Bonn and many more) and Upper Silesia in Southern Poland and part Czechia (home to Krakow, Katowice and Ostrava) They only weird thing about the Randstad is that nobody knows where the “exact” borders are. Most people say everything in the Province South Holland + all cities under Amsterdam and left of Utrecht. Other people say that Alkmaar and Region + Almere also count. But yeah Randstad is basically the hub of the Netherlands.

[@jandron94]

Brussels is around 90% french-speaking people who have little to do with Flemish cities they don't feel much related to culturally and linguistically... It's just that Flemish community government and Flemish companies decided to locate their offices in Brussels and have Flemish staff commuting from Flanders to Brussels to maintain some "Flemish" ties and presence.. So the Gand-Anvers-Brussels concept is artificial.

[@peterflohr7827]

Interesting. I didn't know about the name Randstad referring to being located around the Groene Hart. And I live in the Randstad!

[@mrcnwk]

Kraków is not a part of Upper Silesia tho, it's only Katowice, Sosnowiec, bytom, Chorzów and other smaller cities. Funfact - there are plans to make it a single mega-city which will make all the management easier and prices of services unified and also it will be easier to expand rail connections and punctuality. But of course we Poles love to argue with each other more than anything else so people are arguing about the name of this mega-city and no one seems to be satisfied with any proposal so far, so yeah - it will take some time to eventually finalize this ambitious project.

[@acchaladka]

Thank you for this detailed comment. I wish it had been part of the video, your point is very clear and very tangible.

[@VinneighPinneigh]

A moment of appreciation for the thumbnail and how the bridge perfectly aligns with the rails

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

This is SO satisfying!

[@KilyanAustin]

Didnt even see it until you said it. Well done to the uploader

[@J3dotgg]

The NS ensuring affordability is the biggest joke I have heard so far. But other than that it's a great video :)

[@anrmlumlwundlistr7620]

Zeurpiet :)

[@BeauVerwijlen]

​@@anrmlumlwundlistr7620 Nee, hij heeft gelijk.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@anrmlumlwundlistr7620 He's not lying! It's not affordable! When we compare it to the Belgium system, your employer is legally obliged to cover at least 70% of the transport fees when relying on public transport to get to work... Seeing as you're making a personal cost out of your own hard owned money to get to work and contribute to society, the state then also allows it to add it to your taxes, and decrease your taxable income.

[@commandbrawler9348]

​​@@dontlaughtoomuch11Belgium is not the Netherlands, trains here are pretty affordable. Yes i heard the prices increased, but that happened for many things. Riding trains wont cost you a rib out of your body. Besides that there are trams, busses, you can use a car and u can cycle here everywhere so there are many options!

[@dykam]

@@dontlaughtoomuch11 That has nothing to do with the train operator, and is just politics. That's entirely irrelevant to the comment made. Also note that most employers will give you a transport card fully covering the trip, but it'd indeed be nice if it was legally mandated.

[@woutervanr]

I understand and support keeping high rise out of the old city centers, but I don't understand why we're not building 4-10 stories high in new neighbourhoods. Not even around new stations. That doesn't make any sense.

[@InfiniteDeckhand]

High rises easily lead to slummification. That's why anything higher than four or five stories is a bad idea.

[@drdewott9154]

@@InfiniteDeckhand That seems very unlikely, slummification might seemingly be caused by other issues than simply population density.

[@frafraplanner9277]

Tokyo and Miami are able to do it without "slummification"

[@ianhomerpura8937]

​@@InfiniteDeckhand typical American, you people always think that high-rises = slums. I don't get why.

[@mardiffv.8775]

1. High rise is more expensive ten 4 story houses, especially from 8 stories and higher. 2. High rise is not a great place to raise kids. 3. High rise only packs more people per square kilometer when the high rise flats are spaced close together. Like in Hong Kong. In most cases there is a lot of green surrounding the rise rise, like in the Bijlmer. So 4 story buildings spaced close together have the same density as high rise with green. 4. Big high rise buildings can lose social controle and can turn into crime. That is what was wrong with the Bijlmer, Flats of 1000 inhabitants, where crime was high. The flats were demolished and replace with family homes. Now is building 3 high rise flats, next to the A2 highway, but the rest of the neighborhood Leidsche Rijn is mainly low rise. In the center there is a boom of high rise flats.

[@ThomasJ]

This videos feels so relatable haha! Watching this at Rotterdam CS (where my office is), going to Utrecht in a minute to visit friends for the evening, and then going back to Amsterdam where I live. Yesterday I travelled 2x40km by train to go for a walk with a friend near Den Haag, it really barely feels like you're leaving a city.

[@markuserikssen]

NS isn't really that affordable anymore, unfortunately. As someone living in the north, it would cost more to take the train to the Randstad than to take the car. I've seen many people switching to cars lately because trains and public transport become too expensive and less reliable as well. Before covid, NS offered day tickets for about 12-20 euros to travel all around the country, but they stopped offering this. Their current discount deals are a joke. Now it would cost minimum 60-70 euros for the same trip by train (without discount), and that doesn't even include the bus trip. Luckily, I have 40% discount outside of rush hours, but even then it's still quite expensive.

[@wimahlers]

All fine and well. But the picture is different for many daily commuters with a full time job.

[@roy_hks]

@@wimahlers In the randstad that is, yes. There’s a reason they specifically mentioned where they’re from. Train service between Groningen and Zwolle is incredibly unreliable and if you’re not lucky enough to get your transportation costs properly reimbursed it’s costly as well. Of course it’s a different story in the randstad or other denser regions, it’s all better connected and much shorter distances.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@roy_hks True it's only applicable when living in the heart of the Randstad or near a city center. Rotterdam-Amsterdam for example ===> you'd be crazy to take the car during rush hour...

[@Bloemplantstuifmeel]

How do you calculate the costs of driving? If you take only fuel costs into account your statement is probable true. But a car will easily cost you more than 30ct/km, and probably over 35ct/km. If you drive it alone and do the math, public transport may not be as expensive as you might think. Having said that; comfort and convenience have a price too and are dependent on personal preference. Driving might be worth more to someone than taking public transport.

[@roy_hks]

@@Bloemplantstuifmeel Does that 30 or 35ct/km including the purchase of a vehicle? Because we are very car dependent up north so we all already own a car anyway.

[@Hellboy_2109]

Beautiful video, such amazing footage and angles, the quality is through the roof!

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot! This one was shot and edited by Jedwin Mok, and he did a tremendous job 😊

[@peterflohr7827]

Being subsidized by the EU helps.

[@Lilygirl283]

Clown​@@peterflohr7827

[@adavirus69]

9:08 This is the first video i’ve seen in youtube where the question in the title is answered directly

[@jannetteberends8730]

The green area between the cities is called the Green Heart. It’s like a gigantic park, with some smaller cities and villages in it. This structure was always like that due to the natural circumstances of this area. Before trains, waterways were used to connect the cities.

[@thomastoadie9006]

Like a gigantic park? It’s predominantly agro-industrial.

[@jakeboynton]

​@@thomastoadie9006 personally I would really enjoy living in a city but really close to farm land to bike through like in the Netherlands

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

Thanks for the video! I live in a similar area, the "Brabantsteden". Between both regions, trains run every 15 minutes (Breda-Rotterdam, Eindhoven-Utrecht). Positive about the Randstad: it is easy to reach, within the main corridors, trains every 10-15 minutes, same for R-NET buses. The combination of public transport (PT) and OV-fiets (rental bike system) allows me to live without a private automobile. Negative: connectivity to Germany (our most important business partner). Germany also has a sort of "Randstad"; the Rhine-Ruhr-Sieg area (Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund), with equally frequent trains. However, trains between the two regions only run 7x a day and are rather expensive. Also, inhabitants in NL tend to have at least some contacts living in remote areas, so they need a car anyway. Unlike the Swiss, who can afford car and PT, the Dutch choose between car and PT. And most prefer the car. As a result: 1. our country has the most cars per square km. 2. road investment is preferred to PT investment. 3. despite great PT, still hundreds of miles of traffic jams on the motorways each working day.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot for sharing! 🙏

[@dutchman7623]

If you are commuting in the south of the Netherlands as student or worker, trains are often the faster solution. Universities and major schools are situated near railway stations, on short walking distance. Smart employers chose a location that is also near stations, within ten minutes walking.

[@aaronsmith9209]

The UK could learn a lot from the Netherlands. Living in an area just outside of London but economically dependent on the city for opportunities, I wished they would just change the way things are planned here in terms of transport and services. Because of it's size, London has a lot of resources but also a lot of problems shared across the wider region that no one wants to be responsible for. The neighbouring counties are often too poor to do much on their own to help and county boundaries often cause a blame game but the problems around the housing crisis, congestion and others could be fixed if the city and the commuter region pulled our resources together. There's literally dozens of towns just outside of Greater London the whole way round the city that's it's significant. This video gave an idea of the possibilities if the whole region worked as one place. The other part of the UK with this problem and probably more like the Randstad is the north, especially Merseyside, Greater Manchester, South and West Yorkshire, as a whole a very large population probably rivaling that of the South East. Both would be powerhouses if they were planned to work together as one conurbation in their regions.

[@f.g.9466]

"The neighbouring counties are often too poor"? They house the richest people in the country! From what I know and seen with my own eyes Surrey, Sussex, Oxfordshire and Berkshire are definitely not counties to be labelled poor. As a matter of fact, it's the opposite, the wealthy landowners are an obstacle to the construction of infrastructure. The UK has cultural and political issues that prevent it from getting good public transport, historically the central governments don't invest in public transport, most of the railway network was built in the distant past by private entrepreneurship. Not even in London, the only recent extension to the tube was the Northern Line extension to Battersea which was funded by private developers. London and TfL do what they can with their budget. The government needs to intervene and fund regional development, both in the Southeast, in the "North" (North of Central England!), and elsewhere, but we know that the Tory rulers will never do that.

[@nyls1717]

The Randstad is truly amazing, but it does have its drawbacks. While it’s amazing for the 8 million people who live there, you have to keep in mind that there’s still 10 million of us who don’t. Issues that are unique to the Randstad are often treated as issues of national importance. Public transport in the rural north and eastern parts has been on a steady decline and investments in new rails and connections are next to nothing. And it’s not that no one lives there; the three northern and two earstern provinces still amount to almost 5 million people. The three northern provinces are connected to the rest of the country by a single railway, which causes a severe bottleneck-effect; if that railway is down, the entirety of the north becomes unreachable. The northern provinces have spent years and years trying to get the national government to fix this issue by creating a new, faster railway that relieves the bottleneck and makes the north more accessible. It also makes the Randstad more accessible for us. But it doesn’t look like it’s happening anytime soon. The Randstad gets priority over all the other areas that make up our country. That also makes the people here resentfull towards the Randstad.

[@wimahlers]

[] ... Public transport in the rural north and eastern parts has been on a steady decline ... I live in the Randstad. And this worries me also. This decline creates monolithic car dependency. Something we have to avoid against all costs.

[@roy_hks]

@@wimahlers It does. It’s simply not feasible to commute between Groningen and the south by train, not on a daily at least. The worst effect of lacking investment is not just the car dependency though, it’s also that the quality of life is rapidly declining in the North. Economic opportunity is moving away, and with it; the people. Dozens of northern towns have been shrinking or at least seen severe “vergrijzing.” Our town centers are in disrepair and the general quality and accessibility of services is an absolute joke. ):

[@almapenada8528]

​@@roy_hksi would just move, but i do realize that that's not an option for everyone.

[@roy_hks]

@@almapenada8528 You wouldn’t be the only one but that’s sort of the issue because (young) people moving away makes the situation worse. And a lot of people don’t *want* to move away because we’re a proud people and love this region to bits, which makes it even more painful to see the decline or have to leave it all behind ):

[@wimahlers]

@@roy_hks [] ... it’s also that the quality of life is rapidly declining in the North. Economic opportunity is moving away, ... One of the consequences. As I said before, it worries me.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

This episode is the second of our new series on UMX, 'Navigating Urban Transit' featuring George Liu. In each episode, George travels to a different place in Europe to discover its public transit system and its specificities. Stay tuned to find out where he will go next! 🤔🔎

[@1manAF84]

Send him to Stuttgart 😎

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

@@1manAF84 Stuttgart isn't planned for now, but why not 😀

[@weihan5366]

The distance from Rotterdam to Amsterdam is basically equal to that of Sydney from the east edge to the west edge. So the Randstad really feels like one big city with multiple cbds.

[@imaginaryenterprises]

Very nice video! One thing is often left out of these type of video and that is the absolutely supurb road infrastructure in the Netherlands. Yes, I know, it's completely congested at peak hours and very busy during the rest of daytime, but once that 100 km/h speed lifts at 19:00 it's a dream. Very well designed and laid out, well signposted, often lit and covered with low noise surface that feels like you're on a flighing carpet. Road works are often carried out quickly. Randstad and the rest of NL would be nothing without it

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for your comment!

[@whiskeysk]

fun fact about affordability - last time I've been to Amsterdam, 2 single rides on subway cost as much as a day pass in Tokyo...

[@portcybertryx222]

Yeah public transit in Europe is a bit more expensive than even here in the US but I think given how well they maintain and expand their systems it’s worth it. They invest a lot in their transit infrastructure.

[@vvv-o9y]

another ""fun'" fact it is cheaper to fly from Amsterdam to the UK than to Maastricht or Groningen by train

[@jarnobot]

Yeah, I was sirprised when he said that. Our trains tickets are amongst the most expensive train tickets in the world

[@ageoflove1980]

Wow, thats some impressive editing! Well done!

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot for watching!

[@Bobbysworld22]

KZbin suggested this channel and I just subscribed great work

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you! ☺

[@loganwilliams1406]

Minor correction -- the aerial image of a highway shown at 1:44 was never constructed.

[@loganwilliams1406]

1:58 is metro (mass transit) construction, not highway too

[@gytan2221]

Good and informative video… learn a lot. The Netherlands is such an amazing country 🇳🇱 ❤️

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot for watching!

[@EGO0808]

Kikkerlandje😊

[@mountainous_port]

Hi I love your footages of the Netherlands.

[@danycashking]

I can't begin to emphasise how predictable fixed pricing is KEY to any system's ridership numbers. It's not just people who can pay whatever "demand" determines that take the train, if anything people with lots of money are more likely to justify a private vehicle. Lots of spontaneous and lower-income ridership is lost on demand-based priced systems because they can't afford the ridiculous prices sometimes or the last-minute price-hikes. It's often cheaper to take a domestic flight between cities with demand-based pricing on trains then to take the train.

[@youpie]

Fuck i love this country so much, i wish its people would realise how great it truly is instead of focussing on non issues

[@vvv-o9y]

braaf slaafje goedzo

[@Patrick-sl8pc]

this was a really well made video thank you

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks a lot for watching!

[@joehoe222]

This is why the provinces are quite complaining about the policies in the Netherlands. The bulk of the financial part is going mostly to the Randstad area, and less to the rest of the country. That's part of the divisional problem in NL at the moment.

[@AdamfromBristol]

The UK's Powerhouse region should really be taking notes

[@NickAskew]

Nice video. We are living in the Randstad and have often thought of the Randstad as a huge city with a huge green heart. BTW my daughter spotted one of her friends in a part of your video. 😊

[@EricErs22]

0:39 I do not understand where this number of 17 billion passengers per year comes from. Wouldn't that be ~46 million passengers per day? While NL has ~17 million residents + tourists + ?

[@urbvnknight]

A passenger might be defined by taking the transport in one direction. So if you are just going to and from work that might be considered two passengers?

[@drdewott9154]

A passenger means one trip in one direction on the line. That for instance means if one person goes to a place and back 2 times per day on the same train line, they get counted as 4 passenger trips

[@MarijnRoorda]

You rarely take but 1 train. More often then not, you take a bicycle to the station, followed by a "stoptrein" to a major hub, then a "intercity" to another hub, then take a subway or tram or bus to your destination. 1 person could easily make between 6 to 10 separate forms of travel in a day. And don't forget that literal millions of tourists visit. In fact, so many visit, we've been taking steps to discourage tourists just to make life bearable for the people that live here.

[@mavadelo]

You were correct to question it, there is a correction pinned now stating it should be 17 billion passenger kilometers a year.

[@crytocc]

Quite a good video, though I think you've missed a very important part of why there is a housing crisis; the primary cause is not a lack of buildings or aversion to highrises, but the privatization of housing and the near-abolition of social housing, leading to highly inefficient land uses (because the most efficient uses are not the most profitable for landlords). This is a policy that the VVD has played a significant role in (hence the protest signs against Daniel Koerhuis in the footage), and it is that same party that originated the claims of "there are just not enough buildings", to distract from the failures of their own housing policies.

[@mvdp3784]

Dont also forget the local residents voting against building housing in their neighbourhood. From a recent report: Daarentegen geeft vrijwel elke gemeente in de enquête aan dat omwonenden tot de bezwaarmakers ­behoren. In driekwart van de gemeenten wordt ‘aantasting van het uitzicht’ aangevoerd als reden. Ook verwachte verkeersoverlast, angst voor inkijk en vrees voor een tekort aan parkeerplaatsen zijn ­belangrijke bezwaargronden.

[@nevreiha]

I think if they wanted to take the garden city model and make a megacity in the same shape, it would be good to build new lines into the area around Nieuwkoop and Nieuwveen And construct a mid to high rise dense bustling city centre which truly would unify the Randstad and give it a new central node with increased supply. That's just a thought though as I have no idea of the quality of ground conditions or how easy it would be to ignore the locals complaints.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

True, Nieuwkoop is actually very strategically located! It's a shame they didn't look into it, maybe they have. Dutch mobility experts are world class experts, so I'd highly doubt they haven't...

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

People tend to like old city centers, building a new center doesn't work very well. Plus what's even the benefit of having a central node? Utrecht is already a central node for the entire country.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@Anonymous-sb9rr It's not about a new city center, it's about making full use of the location. Nieuwkoop is sooooo strategically located.

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

@@dontlaughtoomuch11 What's so strategic about it? For a moment I thought maybe it's along the high speed rail line, but it isn't. There's not much existing infrastructure at all.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@Anonymous-sb9rr Open a map and you'll see...

[@strafrag1]

Great video. Thanks.

[@Luki_Puki]

As far as I don't know how it is specifically in Randstad, I totally disagree that trains are reliable or punctual in the rest of the Netherlands. I live in Enschede, and here everybody complains about the NS (national train operator). I literally have never had a peaceful ride to the Schiphol Airport (in Amsterdam) - whenever there is something important the train connection freezes (because it hit a beaver for example) and I always barely make it with a lot of stress. Other than that the fact that the borders between cities and countrysides are not that obvious I agree. Every city gives a city vibe but also a village vibe in the same time. With the "affordability" of trains this is a complete joke - I flew round trip Amsterdam-London for cheaper than I pay for a single connection between Enschede and Amsterdam (approx. 2 hours). For such 2 hours (a bit less then 200km) train you have to pay nearly 30€, and they said they are going to increase it next year. Flying is cheaper! I have never been in a country with a more expensive rail network...

[@jertban]

Great video, even outside of the randstad it is normal to travel to bigger cities. That is especially the case for students, living in random cities like Ede, Den Bosch or Harderwijk and studying in Utrecht or even Amsterdam is possible with less than an hour of traveltime.

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for taking the time to share your comment!

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

There is something like "the broader Randstad". This expands to Lelystad, Arnhem/Nijmegen (a "mini Randstad" by itself) and Eindhoven (one of the five "Brabantsteden", another Randstad-like region). The "ten-minute train" to Eindhoven and Arnhem, which was common before COVID-19 hit our country, will be reinstated in 2025.

[@RFGfotografie]

The one thing ALL countries should copy from the Netherlands is the OV CHIPKAART. Truly the best invention since the beginning of trains.

[@gijskramer1702]

And we are getting rid of it because we can now check in and check out with our bank card. Because they implemented the tech into those cards and at some point even our phones

[@jdj8168]

​@@gijskramer1702I still need it to travel for free as a student

[@randomdebris]

Only thing better would be to make it free :D

[@highs_and_lows4665]

We copied the concept off the British.

[@gijskramer1702]

@@jdj8168 thats why its a dual system now

[@roodborstkalf9664]

Excellent analysis

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you for watching!

[@jacorp7476]

Wow, we need this in the US so bad!

[@Chris-rt3vk]

It’s kind of sad to see that a rich country like the US is stuck in the past when it comes to urban planning and public transportation.

[@jankees4037]

@@Chris-rt3vk Here you can see where modern Western European countries are really 5 miles ahead of the US in real richdom and organizing. US is so chaotic and weird compared to Western Europe.

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

The Randstad model may work in certain regions of the US, such as the North-East Corridor. On the other hand, San Francisco and Los Angeles are too far apart to make this work. Keep in mind that The Hague and Utrecht are only 60-70 km away from each other and trains between them cover the distance in 35-40 minutes, running every 15 minutes.

[@BRIANADEY]

The Garden City idea was about the design of new towns like Almere not the Randstad. NS and public transport is not inexpensive. A round trip for work would cost me around €25 per day with 4hrs travel time whereas the car uses 6 litres, about €11, with 1hr 20 travel time.

[@hirsch4155]

If you don’t have a car you’re saving on taxes though, plus if you have a NS pass you can get a cheaper price .

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

Dutch in comment section about the Netherlands : Yes, we have great infrastructure. We tamed the sea, if it ain't dutch it ain't much...etc Dutch among themselves : Those trains are late again ! And the prices are far to high .. mumble,mumble, growl..... ;)

[@DeKempster]

Because it is, trains are useless if you don't live in the Randstad

[@Blackadder75]

@@DeKempster small correction: they are still great if you GO to the randstad, but not if you go anywhere else from Not the Randstad. so Hengelo - Rotterdam is a great journey, but Hengelo - Assen is a terrible journey

[@DeKempster]

@@Blackadder75 Rotterdam - Hengelo would als be terrible of you leave Rotterdam at midnight for example

[@Blackadder75]

@@DeKempster yeah the last train goes around 22:30 I think. midnight is impossible. I think this was better 25 years ago, I was a student in Enschede and my family lives in Rotterdam, I remember I could catch a very late train and still make it to Twente, arriving at 2-30am or so.

[@waldogadellaa]

​@Blackadder75 Hengelo - Assen requires 1 change at Zwolle. No horror at all

[@portcybertryx222]

This is exactly what California needs to learn from and implement. It’s already doing that with hsr, Caltrain electrification and countless TOD developments in the Bay Area and beyond. By integrating the central valley into this development California and other hubs like Chicago can dramatically increase productivity and reduce living costs for everyone. The Netherlands model won’t work everywhere but it’s a great starting point as to where to begin.

[@daandenhartog6950]

Greetings from Eindhoven, George!

[@DaveJansenTPV]

I don't understand how you can just plainly say that our public transport is 'affordable'. A one-way trip from Alkmaar to Den Bosch (2 hours) costs €23,30 for a second class ticket, which means €46,60 for a day trip. A first class day trip will cost you €79,22! I really feel like someone told you to say that and put it in the video to paint a positive picture on purpose. And it doesn't even guaranty you a seat as NS doesn't work with assigned seats. There's a good chance you'll have to stand or sit on the floor in the hallway between cars for the full two hours!

[@timbrust9739]

I feel like this is a common misunderstanding for Dutch people, because we don't have a cheap public transit system but definitely not an excessively expensive one. Transport costs are high for all modes of transport in this country, the costs of automotive transport here are also expensive if we start comparing them to similar nations. The costs are high for single trips, that's true, but anyone travelling more than occasionally knows how much cheaper it becomes after getting an ov-chipkaart with a discount subscription. Try getting a 2 hour train in Germany, if I decided I wanted to travel between Hannover and Hamburg today, a 1.5h journey it would cost be 45 euro for a 2nd class seat where the Dutch intercity is more reliable and frequent than the German ICE. It's a matter of perspective.

[@hebjeevenvoormijclippies8646]

Het is geen "matter of perspective", het is een feit. Nederland is het op 1 na duurste land ter WERELD als het aankomt op openbaar vervoer. Alleen Zwitserland is duurder. ​@@timbrust9739

[@waldogadellaa]

I should travel off peak, is saves you 40% on your trip

[@SisterSunny]

I think this is my favourite UME video ever. It's absolutely fascinating and visually pleasing!

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thank you so much for your comment! We are constantly trying to improve our video content ☺Stay tuned, we hope you will like our future videos as well.

[@captainchaos3667]

Interesting perspective!

[@Peter-ev2kr]

Australia , we could have had this... Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong and Central Coast 😢😢😢

[@CosmosesJones]

Ticketprices for trains in the Netherlands are some of the most expensive in Europe btw

[@bnp923]

unfortunately is you look at the prices to rent in the cities compared to your salary , a lot of can't afford to to live there which mean at least an hour commute each way from the cheaper suburbs. I live in Schiedam and sometimes work in Rotterdam, bus stop at the door(unless canceled) metro 10 min walk 15 minutes ride (unless its cancelled). the main problem with commuting at the moment is working outside "normal" hours and cancelations. Ever notice when they show the bikes riding here its always nice and sunny?

[@OrtwinS88]

I prefer to learn about my own country via outsider channels, it makes it seam like it's all so well managed and planned. Unlike the desperate mess it is on so many topics.

[@MartinBrenner]

The really cool thing about Randstad trains is there are hourly trains all through the night.

[@anjowiegerinck6539]

Great video

[@SebastianD334]

My biggest problem is that the randstad doesn’t feel like a city, it feels like a set of cities fairly arbitrarily grouped into one without changing much about them. It feels more similar to stuff like the rhein-ruhr region, maybe either a few less strikes and multi-hour delays.

[@markdebruyn1212]

They actual are just a group of cities

[@calumashleymcdonough8955]

Amazingly well researched and presented video! A quick mention on what the commuting times between these cities would have been helpful for context. I randomly chose 2 cities and found this: "The fastest trains from Amsterdam to Utrecht take around 25 minutes". Sure seems to support your thesis.

[@urbandiscount]

Rotterdam - The Hague is 30 minutes, The Hague - Utrecht 45, Rotterdam - Utrecht 40 minutes and Rotterdam -Amsterdam by ICD is 40 minutes

[@calumashleymcdonough8955]

@@urbandiscount Thank you, from a curious viewer from Vancouver, Canada

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

@@calumashleymcdonough8955 Thanks a lot for your comment! You are right, it would have been useful to integrate this element. Next time!

[@enigmadrath1780]

5:05 "Here at The Hague Central Station you can see a plethora of options behind me!" *two guys in the background almost get hit by tram*

[@denali637]

Wild that the entire Randstad is only about 65% of the geographic size of the Houston and Dallas metro areas.

[@demyandanyluk7399]

Great episode! Please create more content like this (and in English)

[@urbanmobilityexplained]

Thanks for watching! ☺ As we film videos across Europe (and beyond), we prioritise allowing the interviewees to speak in their mother tongue to ensure they are as comfortable as possible on camera, sharing their knowledge and experiences. Therefore, while all our videos have English subtitles available, not all interviewees may speak English. Be sure to activate the subtitles!

[@fifi-fifi-fifi]

I commute daily between two Randstad cities for work, which costs me 100 EUR per week. So affordable!

[@husen5033]

This is like the Ruhr Valley in Germany.The State of North Rhine Weszphfalia and the Netherslands are very similiar.

[@vvv-o9y]

how will that happen? maybe the same 15 minutes city? maybe something like tri state city

[@3choblast3r4]

I had no idea that we call the Randstad, Randstad because it's supposed to be one big city lol. I thought it was just the name of the region. But always thought it was strange that "stad" was in the name (means city).

[@Comred1]

3:05 that’s Alkmaar, my city, just 30 kilometres north of Amsterdam

[@Lukas-gc3wn]

Awesome video, funnily enough we have something similar going on in Germany, the rhine-ruhr area and the frankfurt-stuttgart axis. Both areas have similar conditions the the randstad, but there sadly aren't any plans to improve on the current rail networks beside a new high-speed corridor between mannheim and frankfurt. I hope that we in Germany can learn from the randstad and its successes

[@kalebbruwer]

2:43 I like the foresight of dedicating entire sections to an insane asylum and a "home for inebriates". This man knew what the 21st century would need

[@mika2666]

NS does have demand based pricing but it comes in the form of very cheap subscriptions that get you 40% off outside of peak hours

[@You-mr3lo]

You should make one of "brabantstad" or "de Brabantse stedenrij".

[@urbanismworldwide]

Its crazy that over 8 million people live in the randstad. Amsterdam alone has almost 1 million citizens within 10 years

[@TinkiW]

excellent video! the only remark i have is that NS is anything but affordable

[@DeKempster]

To bad trains are useless if you want to travel back to the east of the country in the evening. Say you have a concert in Rotterdam. Then good luck traveling home, you simply can't.

[@on-the-pitch-p3w]

I make sure I don’t have a concert in Rotterdam. 😂

[@DryBones111]

While the trains effectively function as metros, they still cost "intercity" prices. A train from Utrecht to Amsterdam (at most a 30 minute trip) costs about 10 euro. That's more than the minimum wage in terms of cost for time travelled! 2nd in cost only to Switzerland.

[@azmd888]

Totally agree with this because my city the train between city are slow and low in frequency. Public transport sucks here

[@xfilethe]

I live in zoetermeer so in Randstad and I've lived here since I was 8....46 now and honestly I couldn't live anywhere else....ea ex in other places you waist so much time on getting to places....and when you live in Randstad time is the most costly thing.... The system you described is crazy to think of.... especially if you get this perspective.....I've had to put job offers on ex the other side of Rotterdam or denhaag down because it's sometimes quicker to go to Amsterdam wich in distance is +- double.....when taking about public transport..... It's crazy that when I take the tram to my mum which is 45 min....I can get to Amsterdam in less then that.... If I wich they would change 1 thing here about transport it's the speed of local transport......it's nice if you go high speed in-between city's but then slow down when you get there.....I know teams can't go 160 km/h trough the city....but I wish they could.....😂😂😂😂 I mean am I the only one that thinks it's crazy that going to Amsterdam is more worth of time then trough denhaag.....😂😂😂😂 But yes honestly I don't know how you people do it across the world because I just expect a train to show up at least every 15 min or Les and be on time..... anything Les or nobody Wil take it..... Let's put it like this : if you want transport to resonate with riders you need to find the right frequency...... If you find the right one you wil see that you won't have a lack of ridership....

[@mardiffv.8775]

Did you go to Amsterdam from Zoetermeer by train or by car?

[@tillylovesholland1161]

Not just bikes is another KZbin channel which has great videos about among public transportation in Nederland

[@balkanleopard9728]

Have you ridden on the trains in the Netherlads recently? All I can say is they were much better 40 years ago. In general the Netherlands seems to be in sort of post colonial decline with cracks showing everywhere. And "megacity"? The total population of the Netherlands is about half that of Chongqing - that's a megacity!

[@jankees4037]

Randstad is around 9 million people nowadays, which is one of the biggest places in Europe. The size of Randstad is about the same as London or Paris. So you can compare that. On world scale Europe doesn't tick the highest boxes for 20+ million cities, like Jakarta or Tokyo or New York area.

[@PrinceWalacra]

The city of Middelburg, shown at 7’ 05’’ is far out of the Randstad area in an almost a forgotten area by the Dutch government nowadays, although it had a very important role in Dutch commercial and political history

[@jankees4037]

Middelburg is just a small place of minor importance. Small cities like Hoorn or Enkhuizen have been way more important in the past.

[@PrinceWalacra]

@@jankees4037 you’re talking total bullshit, and you’re falsifying history. Middelburg was the second important city in the Netherlands after AMsterdam in the Dutch golden age. Hoorn and Enkhuizen were fishing villages back then.

[@RARood]

Niet zo zeuren, met je vergeten hahaha , die zuinige zeeuwen komen niks te kort hahaha.

[@RFGfotografie]

I love these video's, even if they aren't the whole truth. Always fun to hear some non Dutch talking positive about my country.

[@alfonsstekebrugge8049]

Yeah this went wrong right in the intro as the Randstad does not exist and the brilliancy of Dutch national planning has exactly been the negation of it, actively spreading people out in places away from it, but always in places that could be serviced well from regional centres. These cities effectively act as massive suburbs for a megacity that doesn't have an actual centre beyond some places where a bunch of functions are clustered like the political engine in The Hague, the harbor of Rotterdam and the tourist trap that is Amsterdam. Ever since this idea of the Randstad has been planted in the collective consciousness it has become a reason for politicians to focus on centralization in said Randstad which is slowly undoing the actual brilliancy laid out to us post-WWII. Centralization is meant to remove redundancy, but when you plan out your decentralization schemes well as the Dutch used to do to remove this obstacle centralization instead just leads to gross inefficiency as everyone needs to be in the same place, therefore needs to live in the same place, goods need to go to the same place etc etc as costs increase unbounded, removing the efficiency of having these things done locally where the costs of doing so are lower.

[@eriol33]

Despite the convenience, many people prefer to live and work in one city, and due to the steep price of the trains, people don't go to other cities for leisure that often it seems.

[@CASHKEZ]

go from rotterdam, to the hague, to utrecht in one day is like 70 euro's

[@urbandiscount]

No it's not

[@Datdus92]

I checked. It's €31,- to go from Rotterdam to The Hague, to Utrecht and return to Rotterdam. Not counting regional fare. It's not extremely cheap, but not that ridiculous either. Not yet at least. But we're going there.

[@lightsaber5252]

i just remember kalafina on the last song of this video

[@mattiasjohnson356]

Sound good, but I think it as mistake have parking house close to the station. Rather invest more in local transportation like a tram/light rail or rapid trolley buses

[@jasper265]

Both a's in randstad sound like the one in car.

[@hisk7263]

3:06 is the city of Alkmaar.

[@enriceaux]

The trains are often not driving and are really incredibly expensive. I agree that the network is pretty great, but no Dutch person will tell you that the NS (the railroad company) is affordable or even fairly priced.

[@urbandiscount]

How to admit you never use trains without admitting you never use trains

[@marcvanMaanen]

And yet regional hubs like Groningen or Enschede are still waiting for fast connections, and in fact will require 1 or 2 transfers from 2025

[@mjoelnir1899]

One should take a look at the Metropolitan area Rhein Ruhr in Germany and compare.

[@vvv-o9y]

it is the same tri state city

[@mjoelnir1899]

@@vvv-o9y Rather multi city state, as there are 20 cities involved.

[@vvv-o9y]

@@mjoelnir1899 20 cities in tri (3)countries

[@iljitsch]

"10 minutes or better" frequency between the large cities is definitely not a thing. There is an effort to get to an intercity every 10 minutes on many corridors, but so far I gather that's only been done to some degree between Utrecht and Amsterdam. Most intercity services are every 15 minutes during the day, often less at night. And recently they've cut down for instance between The Hague and Utrecht on Fridays even during rush hour to every 30 minutes. That really sucks. Especially when the tram arrives one minute before the train departs so that's a 29 minute wait on the train platform. Yes, there's also local "sprinter" service but that's so slow that waiting for the next intercity is usually faster. I really dislike the fact that the Dutch train network hasn't been getting any faster in recent decades and in many cases it's even been getting slower. In the 1990s I lived in The Hague and for six months worked in Amsterdam and then later six months in Diemen (suburb of Amsterdam) and even though the work places were a fairly short walk from the train station, it was 1.5 hours commute door-to-door, with half that taken up by the train trip and the rest biking/walking to/from the train stations and waiting. That was pretty miserable. I never read so many newspapers and books. And I was even able to travel past rush hour so a guaranteed seat. It's good that the train infrastructure allowed me to do this, but it's not good enough to do this on a structural basis.

[@TheTryingDutchman]

8:23 the problem is that the vast majority of our soil is to soft/watery for heavy high rise buildings. Not the social feeling of aversion about said buildings, no investor is going to care about that lol.

[@KajiRider1997]

I don't find 8.80 euro to Dordrecht from Delft affordable.

[@infj4w511]

But is a megacity something we would really want? What are the pros and cons? I mean, we don't have any relevant cities aside from this megacity, meaning all politics are centred around the Randstad, but half the country lives in completely different surroundings which are easily over-looked, especially since the lives outside the Randstad differ from each other quite intensely as well. That's an issue atm. But I suppose there'll be other issues to it too. I mean, you already called out its lack of flexibility in land use growth, but handling this amount of public transit seems to fail too.

[@randomdebris]

The Netherlands isn't a densely populated country but a sparsely populated city-state which needs to embrace that identity and build out it's metro style rail transsit system everywhere beyond the randstad

[@MisFellatio]

Yes please

[@mattbosley3531]

But they can do that in the Netherlands because it's small. The whole country is smaller both geographically and population-wise than the state of New York in the U.S. The U.S. could do it in local areas if they weren't so attached to their cars.

[@markdebruyn1212]

Also if there was political will to do it

[@hannofranz7973]

Calling our city centres downtowns is a very American way of looking at it to start off with. Our cities are way older and have another structure.

[@khornelor6]

None of the inhabitants of those city's would ever agree on being from the same city 😂

[@MacAnters]

I really liked the video, but I have seldom seen such an annoying thumbnail in this sphere of KZbin. Please don't take it personally, but I just really hate it when creators make the eyes-and-mouth-wide-open thumbnail Again, great and informative video!

[@trainsandmore2319]

Greater Tokyo: Am I a joke to you?

[@jankees4037]

Tokyo is way more of a big city with great trains than the Randstad.

[@trainsandmore2319]

@@jankees4037 I am talking about the megacity of Greater Tokyo, not just Tokyo.

[@markdebruyn1212]

True, greater Tokyo also has the cities of Yokohama, Chiba & Saitama for example

[@codex4048]

Mega-city or as Jason likes to call it me-gaci-ty

[@vvv-o9y]

tri state 15 minit city

[@thomasciarlariello]

How can it be urban if rail transit tracks for walkways.

[@richardwills-woodward]

No different to northern England with the Pennine Metroplex. Urban geography layout makes a wonderful lifestyle with hills and history between settlements linked through ribbon developments and valleys to the next suburb and so on. A continuous urban and suburban landmass of cities and a population of 22 million people (not quite a match for London's 25 million people in 2024) but then there's the city that beats them all... Tokyo, but that is nothing to do with your point of metroplexes like that in the Netherlands. Lots of countries have this layout. It is just accidental from population expansion.

[@KingArthurWs]

Thumbnail is a new wojak