Behind the figures are stories of travelers who suffered from cancellations and full trains.

Wouter Koolmees, CEO of NS, in his review of NS's performance in the past year, indicates that NS, after the corona crisis, made a false start by underperforming.

“Behind the figures are stories of travelers who suffered from cancellations and full trains and of colleagues who worked under high pressure. At the same time, NS is highly resilient and we ran a slightly better train service in October and November. The 2023 timetable is a turning point and is more closely aligned with the new travel behavior with structurally fewer travelers and more people working from home. This is the new basis on which we can build.”, says Koolmees.

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According to Oscar van Elferen, NS spokesman, the impact of the staff shortage at NS in September led to the most nuisance. This is evident from NS's end-of-year forecast for 2022. Major adjustments were made to the timetable that month, resulting in an average of 180 rush-hour trains per week being too busy. This is quite apart from busy trains due to unexpected circumstances on the day itself, such as a collision or disruption. This was improved in October and November by extending trains. In those months there were an average of 90 overcrowded rush-hour trains per week. The chance of a seat during rush hour is expected to be 2022% over the whole of 96,5. NS expects 91,7% of passengers to arrive on time over the entire year. NS expects to improve services with the 2023 timetable, which started on 11 December.

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travelers partially back

In March, in which the last corona measures such as the mandatory face mask disappeared, passenger growth picked up again and NS was able to welcome more and more travelers on the train. However, growth has stagnated. NS is currently transporting 20 percent fewer passengers than before corona. This is mainly due to working from home, as a result of which the commuter is less often on the train for his work. It is striking that the travel pattern in the Netherlands has changed considerably. Tuesdays and Thursdays in particular are busier than the other days of the week.

peak

Due to the adjustments in the timetable, it became too busy in some trains. This is also reflected in the number of overcrowded trains during rush hours, caused by changes in the timetable. In September, due to these adjustments, there were an average of 183 trains per week with too few seats and standing places for the amount of travelers expected. By extending trains as much as possible, this number fell to an average of 90 per week in October and November.

Source: NS – Analyzes in this year-end forecast are based on provisional figures for the months January to November and a forecast for December. Final figures for the full year will be published in February 2023 in the annual report 2022.

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