Two Utrecht students are top of the class for their school project turned super solution. Michael Hilhorst and Daan Ykema developed a site where users can apply for a refund following travel disruption by simply hitting a button.
The stress of facing train delays on your commute to work is bad enough. But gathering the details needed for a refund — like the exact train and exact length of delay — makes it even worse.
Students Michael and Daan agreed, so they decided to do something to make applying for compensation easier, as they explained in an interview with AD.
How does it work?
“We developed a software system that keeps track of every train on every route throughout the country. If there is a delay in a route, [our system] will save it,” the students explain.
READ MORE | There will be no trains on this NS route for three whole weeks
Users just need to provide details of their public transport card number on the site so that “we can see on which routes you were delayed and whether you are entitled to compensation”.
The Netherlands gets praised because of their good public transport but it’s lowkey ass
— Hikari (@Hikariolu) December 16, 2022
Like this week I discovered some other European counties can receive a partial refund if their train has delay????
Here they will just say “oopsie” whilst the train is an hour late
With this information, “trein-vertraging.nl” notifies the NS of your entitlement to compensation so they can reimburse the correct amount.
Smooth, right? It’s also completely free. 🙏
Business savvy students
Michael and Daan aren’t just innovative creators, they also know their numbers, as they break down the current NS compensation system:
“On the high-speed line, you are entitled to compensation for a delay of just 15 minutes. This is half of the amount you paid for your trip. If you are delayed by 30 minutes or more, you will receive a full refund. For other routes, a compensation of half the amount applies for a delay of 30 minutes. And for an hour or more the entire amount.”
@dutchreview But I’m already 3 cancellations deep 🫠 #dutchlife #thenetherlands #netherlands #dutchmemes #dutchreview #delays #travelnetherlands #amsterdam #holland #meme #memcut ♬ original sound – Kevin Solomon
You currently need this information to file a claim, and the students’ site stores it all for you.
READ MORE | Public transport in the Netherlands: the complete guide
But Michael and Daan are also crunching numbers when it comes to building out their business.
They want the service to remain free for private users, but for companies, they provide a paid service that takes the public transport chip card numbers of all its employees in one go; “But that is on a “no solution, no pay” basis.” 👏
What do you think about the students’ innovative solution? Let us know in the comments below.
