| Type | State-owned company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail Transport |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Headquarters | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Key people | Bert Meerstadt, CEO |
| Products | Rail Transport, Rail Construction, Services |
| Revenue | €4.253 billion (2008) |
| Operating income | €28 million (2008) |
| Net income | €281 million (2008) |
| Employees | 27,380 (2006) |
| Parent | State of the Netherlands |
| Subsidiaries | Abellio Serco-Abellio 50% Merseyrail 50% Northern Rail 50% Nedkoleje Qbuzz (49%) NSRegio (99%) |
| Website | English Homepage |
| Nederlandse Spoorwegen | |
|---|---|
|
Railway tracks in the Netherlands (2009/2010) Double decker train in Amsterdam. |
|
| Locale | Netherlands |
| Dates of operation | 1938–present |
| Predecessor | Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS), |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Utrecht |
| Website | www.ns.nl |
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (English: Dutch Railways), or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.
Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight services, formerly operated by NS Cargo are now part of the DB Schenker group since a merger in 2000.
NS handles 1.1 million passengers every day, with 4,800 scheduled trains.[1]
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The NS was founded in 1938 when the two largest Dutch railway companies, the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) and the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS), formally merged. These two companies, however, had been intensively cooperating as early as 1917. There were both economic and ideological reasons for the cooperation.
Due to the First World War, the economic situation had declined in the Netherlands, and the railwaycompanies started to lose money. The railway companies were considered of great importance and thus letting them slip into bankruptcy was not an option. The companies thus started an intensive cooperation in which their operational activities were completely integrated, even though the companies themselves remained independent entities. To financially support the companies, shares were bought by the Dutch government. In 1938 the government merged the HSM and SS into the current company, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The government bought the remaining shares, but never nationalized the company. Therefore NS remained (and still is) a private company with the Dutch government as sole shareholder.
During the Second World War the NS remained an independent company, but was forced to do the Germans' bidding; the NS was forced to construct the railway lines to camp Westerbork and help in the deportation of almost a hundred thousand Jews to extermination camps. The NS went on a strike once during the war, in the winter of 1944, after it had declined to participate in one a year earlier.
The NS played a pivotal role in the reconstruction of the country. There was little alternative transport in the country besides the train, while there was a huge demand for logistical services which the NS could provide.
While the 1950s were generally a good time for the company, it started to decline in the 60s, like most other railways around the world. Not only did the NS suffer from the competition of the car and other modes of transport, it also suffered from a loss of income when natural gas started to replace coal as the main fuel in powerplants and homes after a gas field was found near Slochteren. The NS had been involved in the transport of coal from the mines in Limburg to the remainder of the country.
The NS responded with an aggressive strategy named Spoorslag '70. This strategy meant, among other things, that the NS substantially increased the number of trains per hour and also introduced the Intercity services. However, it was quite clear that this would never return the company to profitability. Nevertheless the company was declared to be of national importance, meaning that it would receive large amounts of subsidies every year.
In the early 90s, the government started to question the subsidies given to the NS. Not only were there questions regarding the way the NS spent the subsidies, but, after the neo liberal reforms of the 80s, it was also considered not done to award generic subsidies to companies. The government decided on the verzelfstandiging of the NS. (Although technically, this is not the case, but instead refers here to withdrawal of the subsidies.) The idea was that not only rail transport was economically viable, but that there could be competition as well.
There were two external circumstances which allowed for this to happen. Firstly, the European Union passed Directive 91/440, which prescribed, among other things, the (formal) separation of the national railways into two separate companies, one which deals with the infrastructure, and the other which deals with the transport activities. Secondly, the old CEO of the NS, Leo Ploeger, retired, which allowed the government to name a new CEO which would execute the government's plans. The new CEO was Rob den Besten.
The plans entailed that the government would remain responsible for the rail infrastructure, while the NS would provide the (passenger) transport on a commercial basis. Where the services would prove to be economically inviable the government would subsidise that route. The division which was responsible for the infrastructure would later be turned into NS Railinfratrust.
To facilitate the government plans for the commercial operation of the NS, den Besten planned to split the NS into many smaller independent divisions. The idea was that these smaller divisions would be better able to respond to the market. The plans, however, received massive opposition from the unions, which meant that the only divisions created were NS Reizigers, and locomotive maintenance company NedTrain. There were also other internal changes in the company. The routemanagers got de facto control over the operation, but they were dependent of a different organ in the company.
The freight sector NS Cargo became part of the Deutsche Bahn after its merger with Railion in 2000, now known as DB-Schenker rail.[2]
These reforms were never much of a success and left the company in an uncontrollable state. Result was that the company started to decline rapidly, and that the employees started many unorganised strikes. Following this, the complete board of directors felt it necessary to resign in late 2001.
In 2002 Karel Noordzij was named as new CEO of the NS with the mission to restore the confidence in the company. In essence, he did this by reversing most the reforms of the late 90s and restoring the company to the old state. Meanwhile, the government had changed its opinion of the railways, it no longer considered competition on (passenger) transport a viable goal. Thus, the government started to commission railway operators to run routes on the network. The NS was granted (by the national government) the concession to run on the main lines, whereas other companies received a number of the concessions on the secondary lines. The goal is to give individual concessions for the individual lines, but (at least) until 2025 the NS holds the concessions for main lines.
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 5 cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven as well as some larger cities: Amersfoort, Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch, Dordrecht and Leiden). From December 2008 train frequencies were increased on following services: Arnhem-Nijmegen (8 trains per hour) and Den Haag - Rotterdam (12 trains per hour), Amsterdam Centraal-Hoofddorp (16 trains per hour). A night train service was added between Utrecht, Gouda and Rotterdam.[3] "Train routes in the Netherlands" shows all the routes of the NS and private companies. Trains usually run between 6:00 am and midnight, although there is also a night line which connects major cities in the Randstad throughout the night, and in weekends also some major cities in Brabant.
In addition to its domestic services, NS is also a partner (along with Stena Line and National Express) in the Dutchflyer service. NS has also entered into a partnership with KLM to operate services on the new HSL-Zuid under the name NS Hispeed.
The hoofdrailnet is the official core internal passenger railnetwork of the Netherlands. Currently NS has a concession until 1 January 2015 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 that from Amsterdam Centraal railway station to the point beyond Schiphol railway station called Hoofddorp railway station where the HSL-Zuid branches off, and a similar overlap around Rotterdam. In principle 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 main stations and other stations. Except on New Year's Eve, the main stations have to be served twice an hour per direction from 6:00-24:00, and the other stations once an hour. Exceptions are possible.
The next concession period is 2015-2025. Therefore, before 2015 it has to be decided whether NS will keep the concession, and under what terms. Requirements will include:
Currently trains on the hoofdrailnet without a toilet include:
There are two kinds of passenger trains:
The intermediate type called 'Sneltrein' has been abolished except on the line Zwolle - Emmen.
There is partly a common tariff system, see Rail transport in the Netherlands#Fares, with four smaller passenger train operating companies — Syntus and Connexxion in the east, Veolia on the 'Maaslijn' and 'Miljoenenlijn' in the south east, Arriva in the north of the country and on the 'Merwede-Lingelijn' (from Dordrecht to Geldermalsen).
NS is encouraging people who buy traditional domestic tickets, to do that at ticket machines. They are still available at counters (planned to be developed into service centres) at larger stations for a supplement of €0.50 per ticket since June 2004.
The disadvantage of this is for foreign users, as none of the machines accept banknotes, while most also do not accept credit cards or non-Dutch debit cards. However the current web site and ticket machine web demonstration shows that credit cards are accepted.
It is also possible to buy e-tickets online on the Dutch Railways website.
During the annual Boekenweek (Bookweek), it is possible to travel for free on Sunday upon showing the Boekenweekgeschenk (Bookweekgift).
Increasingly, operators apply separate tariffs, partly related to the gradually introduced OV-chipkaart, which combines card integration with price differentiation. Since 1 August 2011 there is even a whole series of new passes, just for NS. However, these are expected to become valid in other trains too in the course of 2012.
Even then these developments require traveller awareness of the various companies, and increases the fare for journeys requiring a change from one to another.
From December 2009, after acquiring the OV-chipkaart no regular NS ticket has to be bought anymore. Even for recharging the electronic money on the card, one can order this to be done automatically.
Travelling with the OV-chipkaart one has to register starting a journey (check in) and ending it (check out), and must always travel away from the point of one's latest check-in. Thus in the case of a voluntary detour, one has to check out and check in to register starting a new journey.
NS defines off-peak hours as weekdays 0:00-6:30, 9:00-16:00 and 18:30-24:00 and on Saturdays and Sundays the whole day. With a discount product on the pass one is automatically granted the discount based on the type of the discount product and the time of checking in. The term discount includes 100% discount, i.e. free travel.
There is an Off-Peak Discount Pass (in Dutch: Dal Voordeel abonnement) for € 50 / year, allowing a 40% discount on journeys starting in off-peak hours. In the case of a group of up to four people, all get the discount even if only one has a pass.
People of 60 years or older can buy a supplement for €14 for free travel during off-peak hours on 7 days of choice (with some limitations) during the year. It is not possible to buy multiple supplements for the same year.
There is also an Off-Peak Free Pass (in Dutch: Dal Vrij abonnement) for € 1140 / year, allowing free journeys which each start in the off-peak hours (compare the OV-Jaarabonnement).[4]
Regulations involving time periods:
The Nederlandse Spoorwegen logo is the corporate logo of NS. The logo was designed in 1968 by Gert Dumbar and Gert-Jan Leuvelink for graphic design company Tel Design. It was introduced in the same year.
The logo usually appears in blue on a dark yellow or white background. Since the introduction of the current corporate logo all NS trains have the same distinct dark yellow or white colour. The logo, which replaced a design which had been used since 1946, can be found in a great number of places on trains and railway stations in the Netherlands. The logo is a widened letter 'N', and a sideways (reversed) 'S'-shape. The two arrows in the logo represent the directions of the movement made by the train, the two lines in the middle represent the track.
The logo always plays a significant part in the NS' signage, promotions, advertising and graphic design.
In dealing with the general public, these distinctions are not made and the terms Nederlandse Spoorwegen and NS are used.
NS has contracts with Connexxion and BBA, now Veolia Transport for the provision of bus services to replace train services in the case of planned and unplanned cancellations.
On the 23rd of July, NS concluded the sale of the construction company Strukton to Oranjewoud. This concludes the history of planning, designing and executing track development done by the NS.
There is a delay refund scheme entitling passengers to a partial or full refund of the ticket price if a journey is delayed by half an hour or more. The scheme does not apply on short-distance journeys and cases in which the delay is the result of planned cancellations that were announced some days in advance. Refunds are, in general, half the ticket price of a one-way trip after a delay of over 30 minutes, and the full ticket price after a delay of one hour or more. This applies to nearly all kinds of tickets. The refund is not considered a monetary compensation for lost time but rather as a reduction in charges where a poor service has been provided. Many do not claim because the system is perceived as cumbersome; however, the system has improved for holders of some rail passes. Part of the cost of the scheme is paid by ProRail, since they are responsible for part of the delays.
Since 1 January 2004, tobacco smoking is prohibited on domestic trains, station halls and covered parts of platforms. The smoking of cannabis was already prohibited, though it happens occasionally and is not as severely punished as in some other countries (that is, it is punished the same as tobacco smoking). Smoking is allowed near smoking-zones (Rookzones), posts with an ash-tray built in, scattered around stations.
Since June 2003, the sale of coffee, soft drinks, beer, sandwiches, candy, etc., has ceased aboard domestic trains. The increasing number of Servex convenience stores at railway stations and the relatively short duration of most train journeys in the Netherlands have lowered the demand for on-train services. In 2005 a much reduced in-train service of drinks and small snacks has been reintroduced on longer journeys. Nowadays the RailTender service primarily operates in the intercity trains on the trajectory between Utrecht and Zwolle.
Conductors have a small computer called Railpocket with timetable, fares information, and capabilities to read the OV Chipcard. The latest version is the HP iPaq h4350 Pocket PC, which can communicate through Bluetooth with their Sony Ericsson T610 GPRS-telephone. NS is currently studying the upgrade to a next generation platform.
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