National rail strike early Wednesday morning, but trains will gradually run on time

The NS is expecting trains to run again in tune with their scheduled times after the strikes on Wednesday morning. It was announced on Tuesday in a reaction to the strikes for an early retirement scheme. Due to this, there will be no NS trains running from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. throughout the country, with the exception of Amsterdam Centraal and Schiphol. No buses will be running either.

"NS understands colleagues' concerns about the expiration of the national heavy work scheme but finds it extremely annoying that travelers are now the victims of a conflict between the union and the Dutch government. A conflict in which NS is not a party."

Employees of the NS regional transport workers will go on strike on Wednesday from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. for a better arrangement to retire at an earlier age. Schiphol was pushing for a minimal number of trains to run between Amsterdam Centraal and the airport during the strike. The court decided on Tuesday that this will be happening.

The trade union FNV thinks the court’s verdict is “very disappointing,” said union chair Henri Janssen. "Here again, it is the case that the economic interests of Schiphol take precedence over the interests and right of employees to strike collectively."

Janssen did not expect the decision. He thinks a four-hour strike is “mild,” and he hoped that the court would keep intact the “general and constitutional right to strike.” Schiphol claimed that the strike would lead to safety and security risks, but Janssen felt that argument was "dragged in” only “to make their point.”

The FNV also called the ruling a "direct violation of the right to strike." The union assured that the other strikes would continue as planned. "We will study the final verdict, which we expect in a few weeks, and then determine whether we see a reason to challenge this verdict in a substantive procedure," the union states.

For now, the union will listen to the verdict, and therefore, there will be no strikes on a part of the Schiphol route for the time being.

There are usually 26 trains that go to Schiphol every hour. There will be four on Wednesday morning. “It will still be hectic,” said Executive Director of Schiphol Operations Patricia Vitalis. “We will do everything we can to ensure it does not become chaotic. But the passengers and employees must be prepared that it will be busy.”

She advised people to keep an eye on the situation and to expect longer travel times. The airport will create more space for taxis and other traffic at the Kiss and Ride.

Schiphol feared that a traffic jam would occur around the airport early Wednesday morning due to the strike by NS employees. According to Schiphol's lawyer, the road network already reached maximum capacity at the start of the strike at 4 a.m., she said in court in Haarlem on Tuesday. The municipality also wanted to prevent unsafe situations with a minimum timetable.

Eurostar also cancelled trains to the Netherlands from France, Belgium and England on Tuesday evening in anticipation of the NS strike the following morning. “Because of strike action on the NS network [on Tuesday and Wednesday], the Eurostar traffic will be disrupted,” the company wrote on its website.

The two trains that run from Paris Gare du Nord, Brussels and Antwerp to Rotterdam, Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam will only travel as far as Brussels. The train that operates from London St. Pancras via Lille and Brussels to the Netherlands will also have a final stop in Brussels. The last train that left Paris was due to arrive in Amsterdam just before 9 p.m.

Eurostar cancelled three trains in the Netherlands on Tuesday, and five more on Wednesday due to the strike, a spokesperson said. Eurostar wants to have “the widest range of transport plans on both days” for passengers, which is why it made the schedule changes, she said. She could not elaborate further.