Overheard in Amsterdam #654

I was on a train at Amsterdam Centraal, heading east to Bijlmer. There had been some train delays and we were waiting to depart, there were a lot of “runners”, desperate to catch the train after the conductor had already blown his whistle.

Passenger 1	Does this train stop in Utrecht?
Conductor	Yes, come aboard.
Passenger 2	Does this train go to Eindhoven?
Conductor	Yes, jump on.
Passenger 3	Den Bosch?
Conductor	Yes, yes, move down the carriage please. (He then closed the doors and the train began to move). Welcome aboard the 11.40 train to Zandvoort!

*For those not up on Dutch geography, Zandvoort is in the opposite direction.

A Cultural Mashup

Wandering through Amsterdam Central Station this morning I bumped into a Bobby and a Beefeater. Both speaking Dutch and offering sweets, I know you’re not supposed to accept sweets from a stranger but I made an exception. The text on the sweets says “Drop me off in London”, and the sweets are liquorice allsorts. “Drop” is Dutch for liquorice. It’s a small joke to promote NS’s (the national train company) service to London.

Tickets are on offer for as low as 59 euros, there’s a train an hour and the trip takes about 4 1/2 hours.

If only I liked liquorice.

On the train again

I nearly missed the train this morning, but there was a guy even later than me. He was running and jumped on board just as the doors closed.

Running Man	Does this train go to Utrecht?
Train Guy	So first you jump on the train and then you check the destination?
Running Man	Er, yes.
Train Guy	Today you’re in luck – this train goes to Utrecht.

More Fun with Fireworks

On Wednesday I had trouble getting home, there were no trains. Here’s why;

Three young guys started a fire on a train, causing damage to two train cars, the evacuation of 90 people (some of whom were on their way to Schiphol – hope they got their flights), and delays for thousands of people as one train track was closed temporarily.

The police have stated that fireworks were involved.

The idiots, young men who did this have been arrested, and if it was a question of fireworks they were using the fireworks illegally. But the existing laws are not properly enforced.