[brnt]

Nuth and Maastricht Noord are both not on any long distance line (they all pass through) so in that regard they are the same. You'll go first to Sittard in either case to hop onto the Intercity North. They are also neither on the tri-country line, in that case Meerssen is also not an option (it doesn't stop there, but passes through). It does stop in Valkenburg which has a big parking, but it's paid.

[lucb1e]

There is no train from MTN to STD. The tracks from STD->MT run alongside MTN but it cannot stop there, that I found at least. The platform is only built for the direction of HRL. That's the difference I see with Nuth at least, as someone who has destinations often north of the line maastricht-heerlen

[brnt]

You're right, a loooong time ago there were, but the removed the platforms on that line.

But, you're only a few minutes from Maastricht, so that shouldn't add too much time, and you get to get a good seat, since it's the start of the IC journey ;)