Public transport strike: No metros, buses, trams in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague

No trams, metros, and city buses are running in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam on Tuesday morning due to a strike for a structural early retirement scheme. Regional buses from companies like Arriva, Connexxion, and EBS are running in the cities. The GVB ferries in Amsterdam are also operational. On Wednesday, employees in regional transport and NS will strike.

The strike started at 4:00 a.m. and will last until 8:00 a.m. After that, the buses, trams, and metros will start running again. The transport companies GVB, RET, and HTM warn that it will take a while before everything is running according to schedule again.

“The first metros are expected to start running around 8:30 a.m., followed by buses and trams,” said a spokesperson for GVB in Amsterdam. “We think we will need the entire morning to get back to a full timetable.” In The Hague, the timetable is expected to be back on track from 9:30 a.m. Rotterdam hopes to achieve this by around 11:00 a.m.

According to a spokesperson for RET in Rottterdam, it was very quiet on the platforms early on Tuesday morning. “Here and there, someone is walking on a platform, but then an announcement is made that the trains will not be running until 8:00 a.m. at the earliest, and people are asked to leave the platform again.”

The Amsterdam and Rotterdam public transport companies understand the strike. “Night shifts, irregular shifts, and, for example, a profession that requires heavy lifting, means that the three city transport companies, together with the social partners of a number of professional groups, see that there is a need to be able to stop working earlier,” said GVB. HTM in The Hague does not support the action “because our passengers are the ones who suffer.”

On Wednesday, NS and regional carriers will strike. As a result, there will be no trains from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The buses, trams, and trains of Arriva, Keolis, EBS, Qbuzz, and Transdev, which also includes Connexxion and Hermes, will also not run. The carriers warn that there will also be delays after 8:00 a.m. because it takes time to start up the timetable.

The lack of a structural early retirement scheme has led to actions for months. Police officers, port employees, and cleaners, among others, have already gone on strike. Minister Eddy van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment invited the unions last week to negotiate the scheme again, but FNV, CNV, and VCP said on Thursday that the distance between the government offer and their demands is still too great “to negotiate with confidence.”