Trains may skip station in Noord-Brabant due to nuisance from asylum seekers

The NS is considering driving past the train station Maarheeze (Noord-Brabant) due to the nuisance caused by asylum seekers. A spokesperson for the railway company confirmed a report by De Telegraaf. This concerns nuisance-causing asylum seekers from the Budel asylum seekers' center who are creating unsafe situations, according to the NS.

The company has written a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, about the situation. It said in the letter that the NS has been confronted with “disruptive and aggressive behavior” in and around the station.

Extra measures have been taken at the station, including extra staff, gates, and cameras. These measures cost the transport company 2.3 million euros, a fee that the NS would like compensation for from the government.

FNV Spoor said that the costs of the measures in 2023 were fully compensated by the government, but the NS has had to pay for it themselves in 2024.

The union states that the government is turning a blind eye to measures and that NS staff and passengers are the victims of this. "This is yet another example of the government washing its hands of a social problem and passing the consequences on to society," said Henri Janssen, director at FNV Spoor.