NS launches online lost and found for things left behind on trains
Rail company NS has launched an online lost and found system with which travelers can look for items they lost on the train or in the station. You can search the site for the item you lost and check photos of found items to see if yours is among them.
Until this week, a traveler who lost something had to fill out a form and an NS employee would go search for the item in question among everything in the depot. Due to the many requests - last year, NS collected some 62,000 lost items in its central depot in Utrecht - that could take a long time.
NS hopes the new system will speed things up, RTL Nieuws reported. The rail company uploads a photo of everything that has been found on the site, except for cards and official documents. If you find your lost item on the site, you can apply for its return at the push of a button. You must provide as much detail about the item as possible so that NS can be sure it belongs to you. If approved, you’ll get an email - within 24 hours is the goal - asking whether you’d like to collect the item or have it posted to you for 15 euros.
The first results are promising, Pauline Bron of the rail company told RTL. “In one day, 680 items were placed on the site and there were 83 matches.”
Urgent lost and found issues can still be brought to NS’s attention with a call to customer service, Bron said. “For example, if you left your thesis behind and you need it the next day, we can ensure that it is processed quickly.”
