Schiphol Airport went smoke-free starting on Wednesday, closing the last of its designated smoking areas located in the secured parts of the airport. Smoking was already forbidden in areas outside of security checkpoints.
The square outside Schiphol Plaza, known as Jan Dellaertplein, is the last remaining place where passengers and visitors may smoke at the airport. The airport plans to move the smoking areas there further away from the plaza’s entries and exits.
With the Netherlands urged to stay home as much as possible to prevent the spread of coronavirus, a video posted online Thursday morning showed how one NS train conductor is "working" from home. It was viewed about 275 thousand times by late afternoon.
The video features the conductor, in full uniform, stepping out of his house, checking for stray passengers, checking the time, and then blowing his whistle to signal that all is safe, before stepping back into his house and shutting the door.
Dutch rail company NS is significantly reducing the number of trains running from Saturday, due to the coronavirus. From every station in the Netherlands, only two trains an hour will run in all directions, according to the new basic timetable. There will also be no night trains in the coming period, NU.nl reports.
People in the Netherlands seem to be heeding Prime Minsitter Mark Rutte's call to work from home as much as possible. The train stations were "extremely quiet" on Friday morning. And there were hardly any traffic jams on the roads.
It was "extremely quiet" on the trains and a the stations on Friday morning, a spokesperson for rail company NS said to NU.nl. "We actually have not had a rush hour. We do not have hard figures yet, but conductors and employees at stations see the call to work from home and not to go out has been answered."
NS is presenting special public transport tickets for teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18, which are cheaper than normal train tickets. The Dutch rail company hopes that this will encourage more young people to take the train. The new teen tickets will be available from the summer, NOS reports.
NS offered apologies after a conductor played a football song about Jews on an intercity train between Tilburg in Rotterdam on Saturday evening. "Let it be clear: we find this completely inappropriate," the rail company said on Sunday after being alerted to the situation by a traveler, NOS reports.
The song was "Waar komen Joden toch vandaan", which translates to "Where do Jews come from". The song is regularly sung in the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam by Ajax supporters who use "Jews" as a nickname.
The train station between the Limburg villages of Klimmen and Ransdaal, a national monument dating from 1913, is the most popular train station in the Netherlands, according to a study by NS. 97 percent of travelers gave Klimmen-Ransdaal a score of 7 out of 10 or higher. The Noord-Brabant train station Lage Zwaluwe is least popular with only 27 percent of travelers giving it a satisfactory score.
National railway NS is releasing a new app to provide better information and assistance to passengers with a visual impairment. The app takes the most current information available on platform screens and provides in a manner which can be more easily read by those who have difficulty seeing the digital boards.
“I can now determine for myself which train departs from a platform and check whether I am in the right position,” said Peter Waalboer in a press release issued by NS. He was one of the app’s early testers. “This makes my train journey a little more independent.”
Strong winds continue to blow along the coast of the Netherlands on Tuesday. Schiphol warned travelers that this can lead to more canceled and delayed flights. Travelers association ANWB also warned road users to be aware of the strong winds and adjust their driving behavior accordingly.
By 7:20 a.m., Schiphol reported 47 canceled departures, 51 canceled arrivals, and dozens of delays on its website. There are also many gate changes for departures, so travelers are advised to check their flight information carefully.
Public works department Rijkswaterstaat expects that rain will cause problems on the roads during rush hour on Monday evening. NS is still dealing with a number of problems caused by winter storm Ciara on Sunday, so train travelers can also expect a busy commute.
"Traffic jams can be somewhat longer than normal, because rain calls for adjusted driving behavior," Rijkswaterstaat said on Monday afternoon. "We expect a busy rush hour in the evening."
The last bits of winter storm Ciara is still affecting all types of traffic in the Netherlands. Hundreds of flights are canceled at Schiphol for Monday. NS reports a dozen problems on the tracks. And ANWB and Rijkswaterstaat warn of a very busy morning rush hour on the road. Commuters are advised to keep an eye on weather reports and travel planners.
Meteorological institute KNMI still has a code yellow weather warning in place for the whole country, warning of strong winds with gusts up to 100 kilometers per hour. The wind is expected to die down by late morning.
The Netherlands was placed on high alert with winter storm Ciara set to bring very high winds and heavy showers to the country on Sunday and Monday. The entire country faces a series of Code Yellow and Code Orange weather alerts throughout the day, as wind gusts could reach up to 120 kilometers per hour.
Work will be carried out on the railways around Leiden Central Station from Saturday 8 to Sunday 16 February. This is expected to cause train traffic problems throughout the Randstad. NS and travelers' organization Rover urge train users to check the travel planner regularly and not to travel during peak hours. "Don't expect your trip to go as normal," NS said, NU.nl reports
FvD leader Thierry Baudet said that he was "too quick, and too firm" with posts on social media on Friday, in which he said that "Moroccans" were harassing two female passengers on a train. The "Moroccans" turned out to be NS employees and a police officer in civilian clothing, checking the two women's tickets. The police are looking into whether they will press charges against the populist politician, a spokesperson for the National Unit said to RTL Nieuws.
The direct train from Amsterdam to London will officially start running on April 30th, NS and Eurostar announced on Tuesday. The direct connection from Rotterdam to London will follow on May 18th. Tickets go on sale from February 11th and will start at 40 euros, the rail companies announced.
Rail company NS denied a claim FvD leader Thierry Baudet posted on social media about female passengers being "seriously harassed by four Moroccans on a train" on Friday evening. According to the rail company, Baudet's "Moroccans" were NS employees and a police officer checking the two women's tickets, NOS reports.
The NS timetable for 2021 will entail hardly any changes for most domestic travelers. The changes are mainly on a regional and international level. The biggest change is a new night train to the Austrian capital of Vienna, AD reports.
Smoking will soon be forbidden at all train stations across the Netherlands, according to national railway NS. The organization is working with railroad infrastructure firm ProRail to expand the existing smoking ban to include platforms and other station facilities.
Smoking facilities on the platforms will be removed in October. ProRail previously said it would dismantle all areas where passengers may smoke by midway through 2021.
The number of passengers who are satisfied with traveling by train increased again last year, according to a survey by rail company NS among 46 thousand passengers. Last year 89 percent of travelers gave the train service a score of 7 out of 10 or higher, compared to 86 percent in 2018, NOS reports.
This puts NS' traveler satisfaction level well above the 74 percent satisfied mandated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. According to NS, travelers in particular appreciated the new, modern trains and the NS app last year.
Eight railcars belonging to national rail operator NS were thoroughly covered in silver spray paint as they sat idle at the station in Wormerveer, Noord-Holland. Vandals painted all windows and doorways along the platform side of a pair of four-car trains, which were coupled in the middle.
"We find this incredibly antisocial," a spokesperson for the NS told RTL Nieuws. The affected train was removed from service and replaced with another vehicle. The NS said it has to remove the paint and clean the train.
An NS bus that collided with seven cars and a woman on a cargo bike in Bussum on Wednesday, may have had a technical defect, according to the police's initial findings in the investigation into the fatal accident. The woman on the cargo bike ended up underneath the bus and did not survive the accident. Her child was not hurt, NU.nl reports.
A motorist was killed in a collision with a train at a guarded rail crossing in the Limburg town of Haelen on Wednesday evening. The passenger of the car was rushed to hospital with serious injuries. None of the people on the train were hurt, the police said in a statement.
The accident happened at around 7:45 p.m. on the level crossing on Roermondseweg in Haelen, near Roermond. So far nothing is known about the victims' identity.
An NS bus crashed into around seven cars and a cargo bike in Bussum, Noord-Holland on Wednesday afternoon. The woman riding the cargo bike became trapped under the bus and died. No one else was injured. The child in the cargo bike was also unhurt, the Gooi en Vechtstreek police said on Twitter.
The accident happened on Comeniuslaan at around 4:35 p.m. The woman killed in the crash came from Naarden. "We wish her loved ones a lot of strength with this loss," the police said.
A passenger train derailment in Voorburg on Thursday was expected to interrupt scheduled service on the train route between The Hague and Utrecht through the night. There were no injuries among the passengers on the NS Intercity train when it went off the rails, according to rail infrastructure firm ProRail.
