Nederlandse Spoorwegen


Nederlandse Spoorwegen is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938.
The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operator NS Cargo merged with DB Cargo in 2000. NS runs 4,800 scheduled domestic trains a day, serving 1.1 million passengers. The NS also provides international rail services from the Netherlands to other European destinations and carries out concessions on some foreign rail markets through its subsidiary Abellio.

History

Early years

During World War I, the Netherlands were neutral. They had a strategic position between the German Empire, German-occupied Belgium, and the UK. They did some trade with the German Empire and the UK, but much less than before WW I. The Royal Navy blocked the English Channel and the North Sea.
WW I caused an economic downturn in the Netherlands. The two largest Dutch railway companies, Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij and Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen, became unprofitable. The companies avoided bankruptcy by integrating their operations, which was complete by 1917. The cooperation was for both economic and ideological reasons, and the state provided support by buying shares in both companies. In 1938, the state bought the remaining shares and merged the companies to create NS; NS was not nationalised.
In May 1940, eight months after the beginning of World War II, Nazi Germany led the Westfeldzug.
The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg capitulated in May 1940 and France on 22 June 1940.
Germany occupied them and created the Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France.
NS was forced by the German occupiers to construct railways to Westerbork transit camp and transport almost a hundred thousand Jews to extermination camps where they were murdered. The company's only wartime strike was during the Dutch famine of 1944–45; NS opted not to strike in 1943.
NS played a pivotal role in the post-war reconstruction of the Netherlands; it provided the required logistical services in a time when there was little alternative to rail transport. The company declined in the 1960s – like many other railways – and operated at a loss. There was increased competition from other modes of transport. In addition, national coal distribution from Limburg became less profitable; the discovery of a gas field near Slochteren led to coal losing market share to natural gas in power plants and homes. NS' response, the Spoorslag '70 plan which increased service and introduced intercity service, failed to restore profitability. The company was deemed nationally important and received state subsidies.

Reforms and reversal

NS was reorganized following the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and the 1991 EU Directive 91/440; the latter required railway infrastructure and transport activities to be managed independently. Although the state called the process "corporatization", it really only meant the withdrawal of subsidies. The changes were carried out by Rob den Besten, who became chief executive officer of NS after the retirement of Leo Ploeger.
NS' infrastructure division was split off into NS Railinfratrust. Plans to split the remainder of NS met with limited success due to trade union opposition; the new companies created were NS Reizigers and locomotive maintenance company NedTrain. Passenger transport was to be conducted on a commercial basis, but the state continued to subsidize non-viable routes. Internally, route managers assumed de facto control, The freight business, NS Cargo, merged with Deutsche Bahn; the resulting company operated as Railion in 2000 and then as DB Cargo. Performance deteriorated after the reforms, and the company suffered multiple unorganized strikes. The entire board of directors resigned in late-2001.
Another change in strategy followed. Karel Noordzij became CEO in 2002 and reversed many of the reforms to restore confidence in the company. The state no longer considered competitive passenger service to be viable, and began granting concessions with the goal of one concession per line. NS received a concession to run main line routes until 2025.

Recent years

The timetable change on 10 December 2006 saw the most routes to approximate the symmetry minute in clock-face schedules to the one used in most other European countries. The previous symmetry minute 46 led to problems with cross-border trains. the company's CEO is former minister Wouter Koolmees, after Marjan Rintel left to become CEO of KLM.
NS was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused massive drops in passenger numbers. The company received significant financial support from the national government in order to keep the company solvent. In 2022, the company made significant cuts in its timetable, running fewer and shorter trains, as a consequence of personnel shortages.
4 October 2025 was the last day NS used locomotives in domestic passenger services. The last ones, which were running between The Hague and Eindhoven, were retired.

Controversies

NS has been involved in various controversies.
  • Technical problems with the high-speed V250 trains, which started their services on 29 July 2013, and ended on 17 January 2014, led to the resignation of CEO Bert Meerstadt in June 2016 and a parliamentary investigation in 2016. The High Speed Alliance, an NS / KLM joint venture almost went bankrupt due to the late introduction of the trains in combination with a too high price for the concession which the company paid to the Dutch government. HSA was liquidated in 2017.
  • In 2013, it was revealed that NS had been using a subsidiary in Ireland, NS Financial Services Company, to reduce its tax liability in the Netherlands. The procedure was determined to be lawful, but it was unfavorable for the Dutch taxpayers for a state-owned company to avoid national taxes. From 1998 the NS used the favourable tax climate in Ireland, which resulted in a profit for NS of more than €270 million but a loss to the Dutch state of €21 million in 2012 alone. The corporate tax rate in Ireland was 12.5%, in the Netherlands 25% at that time. NS used its Irish subsidiary to buy new trains, among others the high-speed V250 trains from the Italian firm AnsaldoBreda. The Dutch Minister of Finance, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, wrote to the parliament that NS would stop this tax evasion. Most rolling stock was transferred to the Netherlands-based NS Lease in December 2017. NSFSC was wound up in April 2019.
  • In 2015 it became clear that a subsidiary of NS, Abellio, had shown unfair behaviour about a tendering for public transport in the province of Limburg. The company had obtained confidential information from a competitor, Veolia, through a former employee of Veolia who had been hired by Abellio subsidiary Qbuzz. On 5 June 2015, it became clear that CEO Timo Huges of the NS had given incomplete and incorrect information about the tendering procedure. According to Minister Dijsselbloem, Huges had acted "sloppy, inaccurate and in violation of the law." Consequently, Huges resigned from his position.

    Coverage

The NS covers most of the country, with almost all cities connected, mostly with a service frequency of two trains an hour or more and at least four trains per hour between all of the largest five cities as well as some smaller cities. From December 2008 train frequencies were increased on the following services: Arnhem–Nijmegen and The Hague–Rotterdam, Amsterdam Centraal–Hoofddorp. A night train service was added between Utrecht, Gouda and Rotterdam. Trains usually run between 5:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. although there is also a nightline which connects major cities in the Randstad throughout the night, as well as in weekends also some major cities in North Brabant.
In addition to its domestic services, NS is also a partner in the Dutchflyer service. NS has also entered into a partnership with KLM to operate services on the new HSL-Zuid under the name Intercity Direct towards Breda and Brussels. Intercity Direct is part of NS International; other services such as Eurostar to France and Intercity-Express to Germany and Switzerland are also part of NS International.

Rail network

The hoofdrailnet is the official core internal passenger rail network of the Netherlands. Currently, NS has a concession until 1 January 2034 to provide all passenger services on this network, except that on some stretches there is an overlap with lines for which other operators have a concession. Some of the most notable of these stretches are those from Elst railway station to Arnhem Centraal railway station, where NS shares tracks with Arriva, and further on to Arnhem Velperpoort. Here the tracks are shared by three operators, as Breng, ultimately part of Transdev, operates there in addition to the two previously mentioned operators. Officially the overlaps do not constitute competition on the same lines.
The concession was free of charge until 2009, and costs an increasing amount since then, up to €30 million for the year 2014. The concession distinguishes the main stations and other stations. Except on New Year's Eve, the main stations have to be served at least twice an hour per direction from 6 a.m. to midnight and the other stations at least once an hour. Exceptions are possible until the start of the next concession.
The next concession period is 2025–2035. For the 2015–2025 concession, requirements include: for every train service where on average more than one-third of the passengers travel longer than 30 minutes, a train with a toilet is used, every newly ordered train has a toilet and in 2025 every train has to have a toilet. The last trains on the hoofdrailnet without a toilet were the NS SGMm and the Sprinter Lighttrain.

Types of train service

NS provides three kinds of train service:
  1. A ' stops at all stations, and is mainly used for local traffic. On some smaller lines, though, it is the only kind of service. The name is derived from the 'Sprinter' rolling stock; however, the service was sometimes operated using older style rolling stock. Since December 2019, all Sprinter services are run exclusively with Sprinter trains.
  2. ' services only stop at larger stations and were introduced in the 1970s to provide fast train connections throughout the country. Intercity services are operated by DDZ, VIRM and ICM class trains. An exception is the service between The Hague and Eindhoven, which makes use of the high-speed line between Rotterdam and Breda, which is run by the newly built high-speed ICNG, with the ICR coaches being retired as of October 5th 2025. When a line is not served by Sprinters, Intercity trains stop at all stations. This takes place on the lines between Alkmaar – Den Helder, Hoorn – Enkhuizen, Zwolle - Deventer and Deurne – Venlo. Between Vlissingen and Roosendaal, one Intercity does only stop on Intercity stations, while the other stops on all stations. See also Intercity services in the Netherlands and. Keolis also runs one Intercity service an hour, between Zwolle and Enschede, the two largest cities in the province of Overijssel.
  3. The Intercity Direct service, which offers faster service between Amsterdam Centraal and Breda as it makes use of the high-speed line HSL-Zuid and calls at only two intermediate stations. Unlike other Intercity trains, the Intercity Direct requires payment of a supplement on top of the regular fare if a passenger's journey involves the high-speed line between Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam Centraal. A regular Intercity service that is free of supplements is still offered. Trains are operated by ICNG. The Intercity Direct service stems from the failure of the Fyra service, which was canceled after the bad performance of the AnsaldoBreda V250 Fyra train sets, which where retired after only 40 days in service.
There are also two former train categories, which are now used only by private operators:
  1. ' : This is the original name for Sprinter trains. Between 2003 and 2013 NS discharged the Stoptrein formula in favour of Sprinter. Private operators do not use Sprinter so this name is still used by NS for private operators, although private operators often use RS, standing for Regionaalsprinter.
  2. ' : Sneltrein was abandoned by NS in 2008. The NS Sneltrein services were not abandoned, but were called 'Intercity'. Over the years, some became Sprinters, while most services were integrated in the Intercity network. As of 2024, private operators use the term, along with the from Germany imported term RE, standing for ''Regionaalexpress.''