IJ ferries run more often and later from 1 September 2026: what changes on F1, F6 and F7

From 1 September 2026 several Amsterdam ferries across the IJ will run more often and later into the evening. GVB announced the expansion on 28 August and links it explicitly to the city's growth and rising demand for crossings over the water. Three routes are affected: the Eastern ferry (F1), the Distelweg ferry (F6) and the Houthaven ferry (F7). What stands out is how GVB is producing that extra capacity: no new vessel is joining the fleet, but a familiar old one is returning temporarily to free up a bigger ship elsewhere. Here is what changes on each route, and why that shuffle says something about the state of the ferry fleet.

The Houthaven ferry (F7) sees the biggest improvement

The heart of this expansion is the link between Pontsteiger and the NDSM wharf. Passenger numbers on the Houthaven ferry have been growing for years according to GVB, and the morning peak in particular keeps getting busier. From 1 September, F7 will therefore follow a considerably denser weekday schedule: every 20 minutes in the early morning until around 07:00, every 10 minutes between roughly 07:00 and 20:00, and every 20 minutes again from 20:00 until the final sailing. Six departures an hour in each direction for thirteen hours straight is a substantial step for this route, because the frequency doubles during the busiest part of the day. For passengers it mainly means that missing a boat no longer costs a quarter of an hour, but ten minutes at most. On a crossing of roughly six minutes that waiting time is the largest part of the journey, so the effect on door-to-door travel time is bigger than the frequency change suggests on paper.

The Eastern ferry (F1) runs more often and later

On the link between Azartplein and Zamenhofstraat both the frequency and the service span change. On weekdays F1 will sail every 15 minutes between 06:22 and 15:52, four departures an hour in each direction, and every 20 minutes from 16:00 with three departures an hour. From 1 September the final departure from Azartplein is at 23:30, arriving at 23:36 at Zamenhofstraat; from Zamenhofstraat the last ferry leaves at 23:20. That matters for residents of the Eastern Docklands and Zeeburgereiland, who until now had to watch the clock more carefully for an evening crossing. It is worth noting the inversion in the pattern, though: F1 will be at its most frequent in the morning and afternoon, and thins out after 16:00. Anyone travelling back from Noord in the evening peak keeps a twenty-minute interval.

The Distelweg ferry (F6) stays in service longer

The change on F6 is the smallest of the three, but for a specific group of passengers the most practical. The Distelweg ferry between Pontsteiger and Distelweg will run later in the evening: under the new timetable the last ferry departs at 23:15 and arrives at 23:21. This route serves the industrial estate and the growing residential areas on the western side of Amsterdam Noord and has also operated in the evenings and at weekends since the start of 2025. For anyone working or going out in the Houthavens who needs to cycle back to Noord, the moment at which a detour via another crossing becomes necessary now shifts later. The frequency on F6 does not change; only the service span moves.

The former IJveer 33 makes a temporary return

The most interesting part of this announcement is not the timetable itself, but how GVB makes it work. To enable the expansion, the operator is temporarily deploying the former IJveer 33 on the Eastern ferry during the day from 1 September. That vessel was built in Amsterdam in 1988 and sold in 2024 to Hook of Holland, where it serves the Hoeksveer to the Tweede Maasvlakte; GVB is now hiring it back, crew included. Because it is a smaller ferry than the current one, it will sail more frequently between Azartplein and Zamenhofstraat, which explains immediately why F1 moves to four departures an hour during the day. The larger ferry and its crew that this frees up then move to the Houthaven ferry, where demand for capacity is highest. GVB expects to need this arrangement for at least a year.

For passengers on F1 this means frequency and capacity have become two different things: there will be more departures, but fewer people and bikes fit on each one. On a route with relatively light demand that is a defensible trade, and it is exactly the kind of choice that fits the persistent skipper shortage GVB has been dealing with this year. Hiring a vessel including its crew works around not just the lack of hulls but also the lack of staff — the bottleneck that the previously announced measures against the skipper shortage are aimed at.

Looking ahead to the IJ tunnel closure

In the same announcement GVB notes that preparations are under way to hire yet another vessel, this time to provide support during the closure of the IJ tunnel next year. That is no small operation: from mid-2027 the tunnel will close for well over a year for major replacement maintenance to its ventilation, lighting, asphalt and safety systems, among other things. During that period the tunnel is closed in both directions to all traffic, including public transport, and car traffic is diverted via the Coentunnel and the Zeeburgertunnel. The ferries will inevitably become a more important part of the crossing for everyone unwilling to take the long way round. The fact that GVB is already reserving capacity shows that the September expansion does not stand alone but is a first step in a longer programme. At the same time the company is working on structural expansion and renewal of the fleet, which we covered earlier in our articles on the new electric ferries and the accompanying tender.

What this means for your own crossing

The practical conclusion differs sharply per route, so it is worth checking which of the three you use daily. If you travel via the Houthaven ferry this is unambiguously good news, and from 1 September you can walk to the landing with a smaller margin. If you use the Eastern ferry in the morning, you will sail more often but on a smaller boat, which can matter with a bike during rush hour crowding. If you travel late in the evening, the new final departures at 23:30, 23:20 and 23:15 are the ones to remember. For all three, a planned timetable in 2026 is still no guarantee of a sailed timetable: check live departure times via the ferry hub or one of the ferry apps before you leave. On our news overview we will track whether the new times actually hold.

Pont is not an official GVB product and is not affiliated with GVB or the City of Amsterdam. We summarise public reporting — in this case GVB's announcement of 28 August 2026, supplemented with public information about the fleet and about maintenance on the IJ tunnel — so you can judge more quickly whether your crossing changes. The times and intervals mentioned are a snapshot and may be adjusted by GVB, especially while the service depends on hired vessels and crew. Always check GVB's live departure times and official travel information before heading to the landing.