MP: Let students use trains for free every day of the week

Allow students to travel with their student public transit cards every day of the week, calls D66 parliamentarian Paul van Meenen. According to him, it will mean that trains will be much quieter on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons, Metro Nieuws reports.

Currently students have to chose whether they want to travel free of charge during the week or over the weekends. Some 93 percent of students opt for the weekday public transit card. This means that students living away from home take the train home to mom and dad on a Friday after classes, and only return to school on a Monday morning. If the student public transit card works every day of the week, they can go home on a Saturday morning and return to school on a Sunday evening. "All travelers will benefit from it", Van Meenen said to Metro.

NS previously proposed that schools and universities adjust their class times so that students don't have to travel in rush hour. But that proposal was mostly met with outrage. The D66 proposal is a lot more "student friendly". It also has the advantage that students can take think bigger when it comes to their education, Van Meenen said. "It is good that students look at their education with a broad perspective", he said to the newspaper. "More and more students take courses at several universities. In addition, there are also studies that have exams or internships over the weekend. With a student public transport card that is valid all week, students can more easily take the courses that suit them best. For other travelers the rush hour becomes less busy."