Prepare for a bad year on the train tracks, warns the NS

Here we go again 🥲

It turns out that “new year, new me” does not apply to the Dutch national rail service, NS. Instead, they’re now coming to us with a warning. Uh-oh.

Yup, the NS has asked train passengers in the Netherlands to prepare for another bad year marked by delays, cancellations, and disruptions.

1 in 10 journeys delayed

If you’re a frequent traveller, you won’t be surprised when I tell you that in 2023, one in ten NS train journeys did not reach their destination at the prescribed ETA.

Needless to say, NS and ProRail did not meet their joint goals for the year. 😬

Why? The companies name a variety of reasons, including work on the rails, renovations of the Schiphol tunnel, sinking tracks in Zeeland, storms, crowds, staff shortages, and speed limits on the high-speed line.

With large power outages, winter weather, and cracked tracks causing problems on the rails in January, it looks like 2024 is going a very similar route. 🚏

It gets worse before it gets better

As an NS spokesperson tells NU.nl, there is a lot of work planned on NS tracks and trains this year — and helaas, it cannot always be done in a way that suits travellers.

Rail work will predominantly take place during the week and during the daytime this year rather than at night and on weekends.

Train maintenance will also take longer than the NS would like due to the fact that there are too few contractors and mechanics.

While the NS is working on resolving its staff shortages, NS and ProRail are aiming for a punctuality of 93.7% in 2024. For reference, it is now at 88.9%.

Dutch rail system works well compared to other countries

Although we all like to complain about the NS, the Netherlands is actually doing very well internationally.

In fact, there are only a few countries with a better functioning rail system than us, including Japan and Switzerland.

How did you experience the NS in 2023? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Feature Image:Depositphotos
Lyna Meyrer 🇱🇺
Lyna Meyrer 🇱🇺
Say 'hoi' to Lyna, our Senior Writer at DutchReview! Fueled by a love for writing, social media, and all things Dutch, she joined the DR family in 2022. Since making the Netherlands her home in 2018, she has collected a BA in English Literature & Society (Hons.) and an RMA in Arts, Literature and Media (Hons.). Even though she grew up just a few hours away from the Netherlands, Lyna remains captivated by the guttural language, quirky culture, and questionable foods that make the Netherlands so wonderfully Dutch.

7 COMMENTS

  1. I fail to understand how a rich (and rather small) country like Netherlands has such a poorly managed railway system.
    If we refer to 5-10 mins of delay, it’s ok ish. Unacceptable, but supportable.
    However if we refer to the quality of traveling and I mean dirtyness of the trains (inside and outside), then I guess that only African and Indian trains can beat Netherlands. I have never seen such a mess. Yellow trains which are actually black on the outside; horribly dirty floors that look like were never cleaned on the interior. It is a shame!

  2. NS is unbelievably expensive and highly unreliable transport. On the route from Almere to Rotterdam and back problems occur 95% of the time cancellations and delays are constant, every day! Now we don’t even want to go from Almere to Amsterdam to walk on the weekend, because we know that something will definitely happen with the trains in the very last minute! It is not the transport for the Netherlands!

  3. Clara
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    I just fail to understand why is the heads up a year ahead instead of thinking how to solve the issues, including when people are stranded on the other aide of the country because there are no trains, and nothing instead that can deliver you hom safely. You can say a lot of bad thigs about Hungary but at least there is always a B option when a train breaks down, so the travelers who are highly dependent on the public transport are able to get home to their families. When there are no trains in this country nobody cares if you live 3 hours away and how you will manage your life, and that is unacceptable. I dont even wanna talk about the countless times when I was literally stranded in the middle of nowhere on a train, not knowing anything when and how you will go further. UNACCEPTABLE.

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