Passengers angered by plans to raise Dutch train fares by 10 percent

The Dutch government needs to begin investing heavily in the passenger train system again to prevent train travel from becoming unaffordable for many people, said Dutch public transport passenger association Rover. The organization responded to the possibility of raising train tickets and subscriptions by more than 10 percent next year, which national railway NS said would be necessary without intervention.

The railway suffered an underlying operational loss of 191 million euros, though that was improved compared to the 421 million euro loss it made in 2022. The company posted an average loss of 921 million euros each of the two years prior, and has seen debt levels soar to 1.1 billion euros.

Rover argued raising ticket prices will only serve to alienate passengers at a time when domestic use of the railroad is still down 11% compared to the total number of kilometers passengers traveled the year before the coronavirus pandemic. Although the caretaker Cabinet delivered an amount of 120 million euros in October which the NS used to prevent a price increase this year of nearly 9 percent, “politics must also provide a solution for 2025 and beyond,” according to a Rover spokesperson.

“What we see in NS’s annual figures is that train passengers can disappear very quickly and then only return piecemeal,” said Rover Director Freek Bos. He pointed out that passengers in 2022 clocked 76 percent of the kilometer total in 2019, which rose to 89 percent in the first full year after the pandemic.

Bos said the increase in the number of kilometers is good news. “At the same time, NS must admit that passengers were presented with a worse product: fewer people arrived on time and more people were left standing inside full trains.”

The passenger association hopes that more people will choose the train again this year. “Now that more and more trains are running again, we expect more passengers to return, provided that this enormous price increase does not occur.”

NS President and CEO Wouter Koolmees said he hopes that politicians will step in again this year to absorb the expected price increase for train tickets and season tickets. When presenting the annual figures, Koolmees indicated he wants to prevent train tickets from becoming considerably more expensive from January.

He wants to keep politicians to their commitment to “look for a structural solution.” and not just one-time payments that are handed out in lump sums without future commitments.

Regional train operator Arriva said that their own fares will not necessarily become considerably more expensive just because the NS prices start to soar. The second largest rail carrier in the Netherlands also said it sees opportunities to make train travel cheaper in the long term.

An Arriva spokesperson said that she was closely monitoring developments regarding NS pricing, and that Arriva has not yet made a decision on prices for next year. “However, as Arriva we have other clients and other agreements, which means that our rates are completely separate from these NS developments,” she stated.

“As a regional carrier, we certainly recognize the problems outlined by NS in this rate development, such as a decrease in the number of passengers and the consequences of postponed investments in rail infrastructure,” Arriva said. “However, Arriva wants to look further, and we are more likely to focus on spotting and taking advantage of opportunities. We are ambitious and think that the rail network throughout the Netherlands can be organized a lot more attractive and cheaper.”

Arriva believes that costs can be reduced for both passengers and the Dutch treasury. “Due to the improved attractiveness, we are convinced that passenger growth can be rapid. That is also the reason that Arriva is focusing on new initiatives on the railways, such as running a night train at the weekend.”

Similarly, Rover was concerned about issues regarding rail infrastructure, for example on the High-Speed ​​Line (HSL). The NS annual report showed that many trains on that route did not arrive on time or were canceled last year, in part due to major railroad projects, and shortages of technical staff at maintenance companies. “In addition, the track is bursting at the seams: Many routes can no longer accommodate trains,” Rover’s director said.

There are currently 1,400 vacancies open at the Dutch national rail operator, of which 250 vacancies are “acute shortages,” said NS CFO Bert Groenewegen. Due to the “considerable number of vacancies” that are still open, “additional effort remains necessary,” he explained on Tuesday.

The whole of the Netherlands is experiencing higher staff turnover, because people often no longer work for the same company for 40 years, he said. “Then you will also have to make a greater effort on a permanent basis, especially for recruitment and training. So we have enormously stepped up efforts over the past year and a half.” The NS is also working with vocational institutions across the Netherlands to provide training for railroad technicians.

Arriva’s spokesperson also pointed out that her firm submitted an open access application last September to operate on numerous rail routes in the country from 2026, including routes where NS trains are still in use. “The hallmark of open access is that it involves offering transport at your own risk and without government subsidies. This proves that we mainly see opportunities. Unfortunately, the ministry is not embracing this with the enthusiasm we would expect.”

Turnover at the NS actually increased by 14.5 percent, or 482 million euros, to 3.823 billion euros in 2023. Of this, almost 2.9 billion euros came from revenues earned with transport in the Netherlands, and 483 million euros came from the operation of Dutch train stations. The remaining turnover was generated in Germany by NS subsidiary Abellio.

"Financially, we are still wrestling with the after-effects of Covid," NS CEO Koolmees said. "Traveler numbers are rising, but high inflation and therefore sharply rising costs for wages, IT, energy and materials, for example, do not help," Koolmees stated that these costs are not included in the price of a train ticket this year.