unpaid train fines - Netherlands

I remember you posted similar questions last year. Apparently you still don't realize that you have to pay for services you use and still haven't paid your fine. In Dutch we call someone who uses services or goods without paying the required price a "thief", but hey, maybe you are better than that. Does that sound harsh? Sorry, but after several price hikes justified in part by the number of train travellers abusing the "honour system" of NS/Dutch Railways, I've lost all sympathy for people who "forget" to pay.

The only way to reassure yourself is to contact NS and see how you can pay this fine. Or be an adult and accept whatever consequences your choice not to pay may have.

No one knows for sure if your unpaid fine is registered and immigration at Schiphol will make you pay. One can only hope they do, but anyway...

i certainly know of people who had to pay outstanding fines when trying to leave the country at Schiphol. Immigration officers often check against a database that contains for example speeding fines and if you have an outstanding one, you're not allowed to leve the country until you've paid the fine and any penalties.

Given that you will be leaving Schengen in NL, it is 100% certain that you will have to go through Immigration at SChiphol to leave NL. Whether your fine is in the database of Immigration I couldn't say. But like Aribo, I have no sympathy for you.

7 months ago you were advised by #24 in this thread to write to NS so you either ignored that advice or didn´t bother to read it. Why should anyone offer you advice now?

In that same thread you said:
I talked to my Dutch friends and they told me that if I don't come back to Netherlands I am safe
So I suggest you talk to those Dutch friends of yours and ask them for their advice.

You then went on to say:
...but if I ever decide to go back and the police checks my passport I might be forced to pay immediately.
So now, after 7 months, you´re worried. I wonder why you didn´t pay the fine.

Edited by: tony_b

As this forum is meant for the pleasure of travel, this kind of posts do not belong here. I’m confident that the Immigration at Schiphol can deal very well with your problem in case it’s showes up.

In fact, you'd better hope there aren't any Dutch immigration officers on this forum reading your post - it's unlikely there'll be many other female travellers from the Czech Republic who transfer from Prague to Seoul at Schiphol in the coming month. Hehehe ;-)

I didn't post a question last year, I was just answering someone's else question at that time. It seems that I can't find anybody who would have an experience with this issue so I will find out next month how it turns out.

I didn't post a question last year, I was just answering someone's else question at that time.
@coccinellefr. In that thread at #22, you wrote:

"I bought a train ticket in Netherlands in 2009 with a discount card but it was already expired. The conductor checked my card and said that I was supposed to pay the fine 35€ and also the full fare 28 €. I made a decision not to pay because I was going to leave Netherlands in a few weeks. I live in CZ and I was afraid that Dutch authorities would ask Czech authorities to execute the money but nothing ever happened. I talked to my Dutch friends and they told me that if I don't come back to Netherlands I am safe, but if I ever decide to go back and the police checks my passport I might be forced to pay immediately. I would like to know how long they are going to keep the fine in their records, I hope that after some years it will be lapsed."

That looked like a question to me and Aribo and to me, especially the bit that goes:
I would like to know how long they are going to keep the fine in their records
it certainly doesn´t look like an answer to the original question. In any case, if you had checked back you would have seen our replies. Obviously you have now.

I don't know how it works with train fines, but speeding fines increase significantly with every term/period that you don't pay...Since this happened in 2009, you may have to pay a lot more than the original ticket!

I was just answering someone's else question at that time
It didn't sound like that to me. But anyway, who cares?

It seems that I can't find anybody who would have an experience with this issue
You may be right - most people are honest and pay for services they use.