If you often travel through Amsterdam by public transport, you might come across something special. Somewhere near Bilderdijkstraat and De Clercqstraat, cat Rene regularly takes a ride on the tram. Wait, what? Despite the fact that the so-called ‘OV chip cat’ travels undeclared, she is still extremely popular with residents, fellow travelers and transport company GVB. They are only too happy to welcome the pet. Duh!
‘OV chip cat’ Rene travels alone through Amsterdam by tram
When your cat Rene sees you on the tram for the first time, it is probably a strange sight. But for residents around Bilderdijkstraat and De Clercqstraat in Amsterdam it is now the most normal thing in the world. The so-called ‘OV chip cat’ has been a regular tram passenger in this part of Amsterdam for some time now. Cute! However, the pet does have one advantage over its fellow travelers: cat Rene travels completely free. She never has to check in and can easily get further than her own neighborhood. And the adventurous ‘OV chip cat’ certainly does that. For example, cat Rene recently went to the Flevopark all alone, after which she took the right tram home on the way back. Wow! Transport company GVB told De Telegraaf that they find it “nice” that cat Rene is one of their regular travelers. Aww.
Adventures in the city
By the way, you don’t have to worry that ‘OV chip cat’ will ever lose Rene. Her anonymous owner has attached an air tag to the cat. This is a small device with a GPS, so that the owner can always follow his ‘OV chip cat’ during her adventures in the city. By the way, that is not always on the tram. “Sometimes she just sits on someone’s lap in a café,” the owner tells De Telegraaf. At the end of the day, cat Rene always comes home for dinner.
More station cats
The ‘OV chipkat’ phenomenon is not very new in the Netherlands or the world. For example, in 2019 you had cat Poekie who regularly took the tram in Rotterdam. However, Poekie did go missing for ten days, which immediately stopped his adventures. A cat also often hitched a ride on the tram in The Hague in 2019. Poes Bowie became a local celebrity as a result. Furthermore, we see several station cats passing by on social media channel X alone, for example in Leiden and Deventer. The Deventer station cat even got its own statue. Genius!
I have been chosen by the station cat. Don’t save me. pic.twitter.com/sgKJttsk6h
— Gawy Doets 🌈 (@gawys) November 5, 2021
Oh how good! Sunny (the Deventer station cat got his own statue!😻💙#kudos #Deventer pic.twitter.com/za2rCToxkZ
— Rani the gray🐦 (@foxcat78) April 9, 2022
ov-chipkat https://t.co/C7ey1HT3VS
— Rob Hageman (@roballemachtig) July 27, 2023
Oh, forgot photo. Here it is: the OV chip cat from this morning #leidcs @NS_online pic.twitter.com/06g1AuAMoZ
— Laura Klompenhouwer (@laklomp) October 22, 2014
📷: @mefager pic.twitter.com/710wk6vbPh
— Bodega Cats (@Bodegacats_) March 2, 2019
