NS not returning Youth Day Pass; Environmental groups concerned by ticket price hike

The NS Youth Day Pass, with which young people could travel for a day during off-peak hours for €8.50, will not be returning, despite parliament requesting it, caretaker State Secretary Thierry Aartsen informed parliament after the rail company announced a fare hike of 6.5 percent next year. Environmental organizations are also concerned about the impact more expensive tickets will have on the environment and society.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, asked Aartsen to discuss the return of the Youth Day Pass with NS, but this yielded no results. According to NS, young people used this option to "travel across the Netherlands," and that became too expensive for the rail carrier. NS replaced the youth Day Pass with a free discount during off-peak hours for teenagers.

Kids aged 11 and younger can also travel for free with a Kids Vrij season ticket. According to NS, approximately 250,000 children currently have such a season ticket, 10 percent more than last year. Another 120,000 children travel each month with a €2.50 Railrunner. The Railrunner price will not increase next year.

Aartsen told parliament that NS faces a "significant cost-cutting challenge." Eliminating the Youth Day Pass was a "difficult, but necessary cost-saving measure,” he said, according to ANP.

The prices for NS train tickets and most season tickets will increase by an average of 6.52 percent on January 1, the Dutch rail company announced on Wednesday. According to the company, the increase is based on the expected inflation for 2026 and the inflation arrears from previous years. In recent years, NS has been allowed to increase ticket prices only by the expected inflation rate, while the actual inflation rate was much higher. The government is also not providing NS with any funds to keep train tickets affordable, the company said.

“The price increase is therefore higher than we had hoped, but much lower than previously feared,” said Bertien van Baak, commercial director of NS. “We are also providing affordable options with specific season tickets and promotions such as the NS PrijsTijd Deals.”

Environmental organization Natuur & Milieu worries that the Dutch government is intervening in the wrong sector when it comes to protecting people's purchasing power. "Public transport prices keep rising, while politicians simultaneously opt for excise duty reductions on petrol and diesel," the organization told ANP. The government is effectively pushing people to opt for traveling in polluting cars by making alternatives more expensive.

Natuur & Milieu urged the government to use the money spent on cutting excise duties on motor fuels to help NS keep public transport affordable. "Sustainable transport, without polluting emissions, should remain attractive. The Netherlands benefits from this in so many ways: less traffic congestion, cleaner air, lower CO2 emissions, and more space in our cities. Increasingly driving up costs for passengers only makes that goal even more unattainable."