NS

A two-year long experiment with running a night train from Rotterdam Central Station to Groningen after Friday night draws to a close attracted enough passengers to be considered a success, according to NS. The rail company will add this train to the timetable for the coming two years, RTV Noord reports.

The train departs from Rotterdam Central Station at just after midnight, pulling out of the station at 12:05 a.m. on Saturdays. It then runs via Utrecht, Zwolle and Assen to Groningen, where it arrives just before 3:00 a.m. 

A soaking wet train passenger and two others suffering from symptoms of hypothermia prompted an emergency response to Venlo, Limburg. One man had fallen into water in Eindhoven, and was pulled out by two others, a spokesperson for the fire department told AD. All three men are from Tanzania, and were taken to an area hospital for medical care, the police said in a separate statement.

NS wants to use WiFi tracking to improve and expand its app that finds empty seats on a train. The current methods used are too imprecise. The rail company is waiting for the Dutch Data Protection Authority to green light this plan, Udo Oelen, NS' privacy director, said to Trouw.

The government can solve the nitrogen emission problem by making public transit a more attractive option with a massive investment, according to NS and ProRail. The rail manager and -company propose that the government invest over 20.6 billion euros in the railways until 2040, for dozens of improvements, AD reports.

The organizations want to shorten the travel time from Leeuwarden and Groningen to the Randstad by making adjustments to the Hanze line, for example. Train journeys from Twente, Nijmegen and Vlissingen can also be up to 30 minutes faster with specific adjustments

The government, ProRail, NS, Schiphol and the Amsterdam Transport Region are very nearly at an agreement regarding the expansion of Schiphol train station. The renovations, which will include larger access gates and a new bus station, are scheduled to start in 2022 and expected to cost some 500 million euros, AD reports based on draft plans the newspaper got a look at.

NS made changes to its policy for regional timetable adjustments so that it can be more flexible in dealing with local snowfall. This should mean a reduction in train cancellations on snowy days, the rail company pledged in comments to the Telegraaf.

Previously, changes to regional timetables had to be made at least 12 hours in advance and applied to a whole section of a day. Now changes must be made at least four hours an advance, and apply for at least two hours.

NS is presenting its vision for new train interiors at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Tuesday. The new interior design plans, made with the help of architect company Mecanoo, are focused on squeezing as many people as possible into a train as comfortably as possible, in order to cope with the increasing number of passengers and the limited capacity on the tracks. 

There are far too few spaces for bicycles on the train to keep up with the growing number of public transit users that travel with their bikes, according to cyclists' union Fietsersbond and travelers' association Rover. They call on NS to take measures, especially now that cycling is increasingly being encouraged, the Telegraaf reports.

If millions of euros aren't invested into upgrading railways and stations between Haarlem and Zandvoort, trains will no longer run to big events in Zandvoort like the Formula 1, NS and ProRail indicated according to a letter Haarlem alderman Robert Berkhout sent to the city council. According to a ProRail spokesperson, this is not an ultimatum, just an explanation of the actual situation, RTL Nieuws reports.

A train was stopped at Rotterdam Central Station on Monday because of a woman wearing a niqab. According to the police, NS inspectors asked for police aid because the woman refused to show her face to the inspectors so that they could check whether she had a valid ticket. The woman was not fined, NOS reports.

In the summer months of June, July and August almost 917 thousand people took a train from the Netherlands to a foreign country, NS International announced on Thursday. That is a 13 percent growth in passenger numbers compared to the summer of last year, NU.nl reports.