Funny Dutch Train Announcements – Unexpected Landing

Funny Dutch Train Announcements

“Cabin crew to landing positions please. Cabin crew to landing positions.”

I sit up suddenly, snapped out of my day dreaming by the unexpected announcement. What? Landing? How can we be landing now?

“Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We will shortly be arriving at Rotterdam central.”

Rotterdam? I don’t even know if Rotterdam has an airport? How can we be landing there? What is going on?

“The local time is 11:16pm. Weather conditions are good with a temperature of -2.”

I am deeply confused, not because we are making a sudden and un-expected landing but because we are making any kind of landing at all, because I am sitting on a train, a normal, regular train that does not have wings and is not capable of flight (as far as I know it).

“We hope you have enjoyed your flight with the Dutch railway service and we hope to see you again soon.”

Maybe the train driver is having a nervous breakdown…

“Dames en heren. Excuuses voor mijn alter-ego, de Engelse Kapitein. De volgende stop is Rotterdam Centraal.”

…or has a split personality.

– – – – –
Translation = “Ladies and gentlemen. I apologise for my alter ego the English captain. Next stop is Rotterdam central.”

Read more funny Dutch train announcements: Surprise Train.

Stuart

Stuart is an accident prone Englishman who has been living in the Netherlands since 2001. Even his move to the country was an unintentional accident, the result of replying to a cryptic job advertisement he found one day in a local British magazine. Since then he has learned to love the Dutch (so much so that he married one of them) and now calls the country home. He started the blog Invading Holland in 2006 as a place to share his strange stories of language misunderstandings, cultural confusions and his own accident prone nature.

15 Responses

  1. Aledys Ver says:

    Maybe the poor man just always wanted to be a pilot … :)

  2. Alison says:

    Considering some of the NS stories I’ve heard, coming in for a landing doesn’t seem that unusual. But the real question is whether the plane-train was on time! :)

  3. Yvette says:

    Maybe this just speaks more about me than I’d care to admit, but I feel like I’d like to buy that captain a beer. Both the English-speaking and the Dutch-speaking ones. :)

  4. Invader Stu says:

    Aledys Ver – Don’t we all

    Alison – I know what you mean. And amazingly it was on time.

    Yvette – In all honesty… I think I would as well.

  5. Paolo says:

    Funny though…Reminds me some drivers on the London Undergound

  6. Meta says:

    :)
    But Rotterdam does have an airport! I often see the planes going down when I look out of my window (otherwise they would have been a lot of plane accidents).

  7. Sabrina says:

    Too funny! I love when people unexpectedly spice up regular announcements on plains, trains, and busses :)

  8. I would so crack up if that happened to me in France! XD

  9. Fabio says:

    haha man I love it! :D You hear that kind of stuff on Dutch trains!

  10. Terri says:

    Too funny, and how clever of the “captain.” There should be more humor in our commuting lives.

  11. Bart says:

    Yes, yes, very funny. Before you know it you’ll be stripping your clothes of before you can walk through the metal detector, while a long line of people are sniggering behind your back because your favourite Spiderman underwear turned bright pink in the laundry. See if it’s still funny then!

  12. Invader Stu says:

    Paolo – Yes. The tube drivers do seem to have a good sense of humour as well :)

    Meta – you’re right. I found that out too afterwards but at the time I doubted it was in Rotterdam Centraal

    Sabrina – It makes it a lot more fun doesn’t it :)

    Barb the French Bean – I did. It brought a smile to my face.

    Rydi – He did indeed.

    Fabio – Oh yes. And I have :p

    Terri – Yes, there should be. It makes it much more fun.

    Bart – Errr… are you ok man? Is there something you want to tell us?

  13. Windmilltales says:

    Bring more drivers like this, makes a change from the grumpy ones, or the messages that you can’t understand :)

  14. Invader Stu says:

    Windmilltales – I agree. I like these ones better.

  15. VallyP says:

    So, do I take it this really happened? How very cool! I want more train drivers like that!

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