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Gates at Rotterdam Central Station (Picture: Twitter/@janvkeulen)
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Gates at Rotterdam Central Station (Picture: Twitter/@janvkeulen)
MP majority: Taller gates needed at train station
The majority of the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, wants NS to put higher gates at Rotterdam Central Station and Amsterdam Central Station.
AD reports that the rail operator at Rotterdam Central station handed out several fines to travelers jumping over the closed gates this weekend. According to the VVD, SP, D66, PVV and CDA, the low gates are missing their purpose if people are ignoring them. Their public transport specialists also want high gates to be installed at The Hague Central and Utrecht Central, which don't have any gates installed as of yet.
"It must not become a national sport to go hurdling at the stations", said VVD parliamentarian Betty de Boer. "These people are deliberately traveling illegally. The NS must look at high gates. And those must not come from the taxpayer's wallet."
As a public company NS can't just ignore the Kamer's wishes. But they believe there are two good reasons to keep the low gates - they look better and there are enough employees to ensure that they are used correctly. "These are incidents which we make short work of", NS said according to the AD. "We take extra measures: more enforcement and fines of 125 euros for freeloaders."