[seabass-labrax]

Such contactless readers are the norm in the Netherlands. There are no ticket gates; it is still an honesty system, but one is expected to tap on before you board the train. They are sensibly located near the station entrance, so you also don't need to make a detour to find them.

[CalRobert]

Sounds nice! I've been caught on the wrong side of the barrier at Hilversum a few times due to malfunctioning gates, etc

[seabass-labrax]

Apparently there are some stations which still have ticket gates, but I haven't seen any in the rather short time I've been in the Netherlands - they seem to be concentrated in metropolitan areas[1], and I've only been in the somewhat more rural[2] province of Limburg. As it happens, though, I have never actually used the OV-chipcard myself, as I always use an Interrail pass when travelling any further than Belgium from my home country of Britain. I just get on the train - even more reason to like the 'gateless' platforms, because it's always the people with less usual tickets like Interrail that fall through the cracks with systems that try to be too clever.

[1]: https://www.ns.nl/binaries/_ht_1583338071691/content/assets/...

[2]: https://mastodon.social/@rubenivangaalen/109705862906000821