Drastic changes to NS train timetable

Nearly all train travelers will be affected in some way by NS' new timetable, which takes effect on December 11th. The timetable will be released on the NS website at noon on Friday, ANP reports According to NS, major changes are necessary to cope with further growth in the coming years. The railway company expects a 2 percent growth in passengers next year. That comes down to 20 thousand extra passengers per day. This new timetable holds the most drastic changes since 2007. In the coming year there will be 150 extra trains traveling per day. NS promises more direct connections between cities and shorter waiting times. But the improvement for some travelers, may come at the cost of another. NS is doubling the number of intercity trains between Almere and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport from two to four per hour. But between Almere and Utrecht, travel time will increase by five minutes. Between Vlissingen and Rotterdam travel time will increase by about five minutes. This is because the train from Zeeland will stop longer in Roosendaal. This will decrease travel time for those traveling from Zeeland to Brabant by about 10 minutes. The connection between Eindhoven and Dusseldorf will be improved. A better connection in Venlo will reduce travel time by 15 minutes. There will also be a direct connection between Venlo and Den Bosch and Utrecht. But travelers between Venlo and The Hague will have to switch trains in Eindhoven. The intercity train between The Hague and Eindhoven will be takeover by the high-speed line. This ultimately saves time for many travelers. But those who regularly travel from and to Dordrecht will have fewer trains to chose from. The city is not connected to the high-speed line. As compensation there will be an hourly train between Dordrecht and Breda. People traveling between the west of the Randstad and Brabant will have to transfer to another train in Breda. NS will also be testing new trains on that routes, which will cause delays and disturbances.