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The corona crisis has a major impact on public transport. Passenger numbers have fallen sharply and public transport companies incur additional costs because the equipment, stations and stops had to be adapted. Public transport is a vital sector, which has kept the Netherlands running in recent months and is indispensable for many people. That is why the Cabinet will release approximately 2020 billion euros until the end of 1,5 to ensure that the public transport can continue to drive and that people can travel safely.

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (IenW) explained the decision on the availability fee earlier today in the National Public Transport Council (NOVB). Transporters and decentralized authorities (in their role as concession providers) have embraced the package. Van Veldhoven: 

“Public transport has shown its best side in recent months. Healthcare workers were transported to the hospital and employees from supermarkets, garbage collection services, the police and fire brigade also came to work by public transport. At the same time, great efforts have been made to corona-proof trains, trams, buses, metros, ferries, ferries, stations and stops. Many thanks to all public transport employees, from bus driver to cleaner and from service employee to operator. The public transport is an essential link in our society and we underline this with this compensation. ”

Since the beginning of the corona crisis, public transport has continued to drive people to and from work in a vital occupation. Initially, a severely thinned timetable applied, but since June 1, public transport in the Netherlands is fully operational again. The Cabinet's request to offer a full timetable, while passenger numbers are still limited, results in a significant financial shortage for the carriers.

The availability fee is intended for all public transport under a concession (area concessions, line concessions and line agreements) in the Netherlands and runs from 1 March to the end of this year. It has been agreed that the decentralized authorities and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will continue to pay the contributions from the current concession agreements and the OV student card. The Cabinet attaches great importance to the fact that NS, city and regional transport and the Frisian Wadden Springs themselves also make an appropriate contribution. This is set at a maximum of 7% of the costs.

With the availability allowance from central government, the cost coverage for public transport amounts to 93%. Public transport companies that can demonstrate that there is no other economic option than to scale down the timetable to guarantee continuity are compensated up to a maximum of 95%. The entire scheme is expected to comprise around 1,5 billion euros. As with other corona plans, conditions also apply: carriers do not pay dividends and no bonuses or severance payments are made to drivers.

With the decision on the availability fee, the government indicates that it also wants to tackle the financial statements together with the decentralized authorities and the transporters. It is important to stay sharp on the development of costs and to jointly ensure that the number of travelers can be increased safely step by step. Even now that more sectors will open step by step in the coming months, it is expected that the number of travelers will increase and that traveler income will slowly increase as a result. As passenger numbers rise faster than expected, the required contribution from central government will be lower.

Also read: NS will be faced with large turnover losses in the coming years

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