NS presents new Sprinter trains

NS presented the new model sprinter, produced by Spanish manufacturer CAF, in Amsterdam on Thursday. The first few of the total of 118 trains are now in the Netherlands for testing, Het Parool reports.

The new generation sprinters include a new LED lighting system that automatically adjusts to daylight, power sockets and USB connectors. The trains' bathrooms are larger, and it is also easier for people with disabilities to get onto and off the trains, according to NOS.

It will still be some time before the public gets to use these new trains. They will be added to the NS timetable by autumn next year at the earliest, according to Het Parool. The new trains cost NS around half a billion euros.

On Thursday NS also announced that it is deploying 83 extra sprinters per day across the Netherlands from December. More sprinters will travel the route between Geldermalsen and Den Bosch and between Leeuwarden and Meppel, for example. And on the connection between Utrecht and Houten Castellum, there will soon be a train every 10 minutes, NOS reports.