NS still investigating cause of Sunday shutdown; Cabinet very critical of NS response

The investigation into the cause of the technical malfunction that brought train traffic in the Netherlands to a standstill on Sunday is still ongoing. It is not yet clear how long it will take before the cause is known. "That is of course the question we all want the answer to," a spokesperson for the NS said on Monday.

Travelers who were unable to take the train on Sunday can claim compensation for their train ticket, the spokesperson said. Travelers who incurred additional costs because they had to take alternative transportation, such as a taxi, can contact customer service for a refund.

The NS shut down train traffic for most of the day on Sunday due to a technical failure. The malfunction affected the system that maintains the current schedules for trains and staff. On Monday, all trains were running according to the timetable again. However, shorter, longer or different trains were running on Monday than what travelers are normally used to on their routes, because trains were "in the wrong place" due to the malfunction, according to the spokesperson.

The rail company said it was impossible to organize alternative transport, like buses, due to the magnitude of the disruption. In addition to investigating the cause of the disruption, NS is also evaluating whether it has dealt with it properly in this way.

State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen of Infrastructure and Water Management believes that the NS made "a very wrong turn" in dealing with a technical fault. She believes that the way the rail company dealt with the disruption was "really substandard" and wants to hear from the management how this could happen.

"I want to hear from NS exactly why it shut down all train traffic and arranged no replacement transport. Travelers were given little information and no alternative, so the approach to this disruption was really substandard," the State Secretary said in written remarks. "I, therefore, want to know from the management of NS how they will ensure that this does not happen again in the future." It is not yet clear when Heijnen will meet with the NS management. 

NS is an independent company, but the Dutch State is the sole shareholder. According to the government, the railways are part of the vital infrastructure of the Netherlands, and they play an important economic role. Together with Schiphol, Tennet, and the port of Rotterdam, it is one of the companies that the State is unwilling to sell.

Traveler organization Rover has asked NS to be completely lenient in compensating people affected by the train failure. Passengers who cannot get anywhere with the NS are called upon to report to Rover. "Then we will look together with the [Public Transit] Ombudsman to see whether mediation is possible, and whether NS has sufficiently compensated," said the traveler's organization on its website.