NS, ProRail fined €3.25 million combined for poor performance on high-speed line

Dutch national railway NS and infrastructure firm ProRail will receive a combined total of 3.25 million euros in fines for poor performance and delays on the high-speed route between Amsterdam and Breda. At least 82.1 percent of passengers should have arrived with a maximum delay of five minutes on that route, but the “passenger punctuality” rate was 73.6 percent last year, said caretaker Infrastructure State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen in a letter to Parliament on Friday.

The fine for the NS is 500,000 euros, and for ProRail it is 2.75 million euros. A small portion of the fine to the railroad infrastructure company, 125,000 euros, was because freight transporters gave the line a poor rating.

The delays are not entirely the fault of the NS and ProRail, Heijnen acknowledged. Errors during the construction of the high-speed line also played a role. Nevertheless, she chose to impose the fines. “I expect ProRail and NS to provide better service on the points over which they have influence.”

“Not nice, of course,” an NS spokesperson responded. “Dozens of people are working hard to serve passengers on the high-speed line as best as possible. Passengers can expect more than we delivered.”

In addition to the construction errors, the spokesperson also blamed the delays on the equipment. New trains were delivered later than expected, which means that the failure of other trains had a greater impact. “The implementation of the new trains also had teething problems.” The spokesperson was hopeful that performance will be better this year, but could not provide guarantees.

This is certainly not the first fine for the NS. Last year, the national rail carrier had to pay 1.5 million euros because fewer trains operated in 2022 than promised, despite financial support from the Cabinet.

The fine collected from the two companies will be “used for passengers on the main rail network,” Heijnen wrote, but she could not elaborate on specifics. Last year, following a competition, the money went to a “dating app” that allows travelers to get in touch with each other. Right-wing parties were angered about the manner in which the money was spent.

A competition to determine how the money is put into use will not happen this time, said the NS spokesperson. “We will pay the fine to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.”