NS trains back on pre-pandemic schedule

On Monday, the NS trains will run according to its pre-coronavirus schedule for the first time since the pandemic hit the Netherlands in early 2020. The night trains will be back on the no-coronavirus-restrictions schedule from July 5, the Dutch rail company announced.

NS is eager to finally resume normal timetables, president Marjan Rintel said. "An important moment for NS after a difficult period in which we had to ask a lot from our travelers and colleagues."

Travelers are also eager to return, as shown by increasing numbers. On weekdays, NS trains are about 40 percent as full as they were in 2019, and 60 percent on weekends. The number of season tickets sold also increased slightly after the government announced last month that public transport is no longer only for necessary trips. 

Next week, public transport companies in the Netherlands are launching a campaign to lure more travelers back onto the trains, buses, subways, ferries, and trams.