Starting Friday, the NS will have fewer trains during rush hours since less commuters are expected than usual. This is a response to Prime Minister Rutte’s call to work from home yesterday to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Already in North Brabant, an NS spokesperson said there were fewer passengers during rush hour in the past week compared to before the outbreak of the virus in the Netherlands.
The spokesperson continues that tighter measures around the coronavirus outbreak means that it is now “extremely much quieter” at stations and in trains. The NS staff has taken photos of these ‘ghost towns’:
Uitgestorven station in Enschede. Enkel mbo-studenten en werkenden komen en gaan met de trein #rtvoost pic.twitter.com/z7wN2nMDWD
— Teun van der Velden (@teunvdvelden) March 13, 2020
Although the NS understands that their might be some public outcry about this decision, due to fears of overcrowding of the few trains that do run, the spokesperson assures that this won’t be the case since it only concerns ‘a few dozen’ trains.
The NS also wants to take into account its staff – and in order to prevent infections, it will deploy train personnel only where necessary.
More information about COVID-19 in the Netherlands
For more information, be sure to check out our guide to coronavirus in the Netherlands to stay up-to-date with the most recent information.
You can also watch our video, where we touch upon questions like how did coronavirus come to the Netherlands? What can you do against it in daily life? Is the Netherlands properly prepared for a COVID-19 pandemic?
Are you planning on commuting via trains in the next few weeks or will you be working from home? Let us know in the comments!
Feature image: Michael Coghlan/Flickr