As of yesterday, Wouter Koolmees was appointed as the NS’s new bossman — and (get this), he wants to kick off his days on the job doing the work of a train conductor! 🚂
Koolmees, who was previously Minister of Social Affairs, will remain CEO of the Dutch railway company for the next four years.
In an effort to learn, first-hand, what his struggling employees experience on a daily basis, he’ll receive schooling to be a train conductor, writes RTL Nieuws.
Koolmees might’ve won the title as the NS’s new CEO, but not every customer is happy about it.
NS employees don’t feel heard
In light of the many (and we mean MANY) problems that the NS has been facing lately, the company uses fewer and shorter trains.
As a result, people in the Netherlands are boarding more jam-packed intercities and sprinters, with little room to sit and stand.
READ MORE | Train between Amsterdam and London saved: will more than double capacity in future
One particular cause of this is the fact that NS employees feel as though they’re not being listened to, ergo coming to a solution for the train crisis grows more difficult.
Luckily, the new CEO plans to tackle this issue. “That is a serious signal, which I have to work with”, Koolmees told Op1 last night.
A step towards a solution to train failures
NS announced that they plan to deploy office workers on trains as assistant conductors, and in the evenings, bring in private security guards to ease the work of the conductors.
By doing so, they hope to prevent more train failures.
READ MORE | People are now throwing stones at NS trains (and it’s not exactly helpful)
In addition, the NS recently made more train cutbacks on 22 intercity and 20 sprinter routes across the lowlands.
Alas, woners will continue to face restricted train timetables, as the NS plans to start operating even fewer trains on a number of routes from next week onwards.
What do you think about NS’s new CEO starting as a train conductor? Tell us in the comments below! 👇
Perhaps he could also look in on the refunds department! I filed a claim on 11th July. It still hasn’t been paid (5 months later) despite NS.NL stating that refunds take 7 days!!