Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Introduction

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is the main public transport railway company in the Netherlands. It uses the tracks and other railway network infrastructure supplied by ProRail, which used to be part of the NS as well.

Coverage

Their coverage throughout the country is excellent with almost all cities connected, and a train service of two trains an hour or more in the biggest part of the country (at least 4 trains per hour between all of the largest 4 cities; Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht). Train routes in the Netherlands shows all the routes of the Dutch Railways and the NS and the private companies. Trains usually run between 6 and midnight, although there is also a night line which connects the Randstad all night long.

In addition to its domestic services, NS is also a partner (along with Stena Line and 'one' Railway) in the Dutchflyer service.

Commercial transport types

There are three kinds of passenger trains:

A 'Stoptrein' (Literally means: stop train. But Stoptrein really means local train) stops at all stations, and is mainly used for local traffic. On some smaller lines though, it is the only way to travel. 'Sprinters' are trains operating as a 'stoptrein', but only on dedicated lines in the Randstad. The Sprinter's equivalent in Switzerland is the RegioExpress. Currently it is becoming called 'Sprinter' more frequently, originally called after a 'Sprinter' (2800 class) rolling stock, even when operated by older style rolling stock ('Plan V/T' : 400, 500, 800 and 900 class).
A 'Sneltrein' (fast train) skips a few smaller stops, and connects the larger stations with each other. 'Sneltreinen' do not run everywhere. The most important run between the south-western city of Roosendaal and Zwolle in the north-east twice hourly and between Arnhem/Nijmegen and Rotterdam/Den Haag twice hourly as well.
'Intercities' only stop at larger stations, and were introduced in the 1970s to provide fast train connections throughout the country. As with 'Sneltrein', usually operated by 'DD-IRM' and 'ICM/Koploper' class trains.

(When the annual timetable change takes place in December 2006 the Sneltrein will disappear. The NS is introducing a complete timetable overhaul which will see more frequent intercity trains serving an expanded intercity network, and a smaller branch lines and stations being served by Stoptreinen feeder services. This is all part of the NS modernisation and expansion program)

The majority of the lines are electrified, all at 1500V DC. The HSL Zuid (between Hoofddorp and Belgian border) and Betuweroute (between Zevenaar and Rotterdam) will be electrified at 25kV 50 Hz AC. The company is fully owned by the Dutch state. There were initially plans for a share issue in the future but the prospect for this is now very remote.

NS shares a common tariff system with the three smaller passenger train operating companies (Syntus and Connexxion in the east, NoordNed up north) in the country.

The NS is pushing people to buy their domestic tickets at ticket machines. They are still available at counters (which they want to develop into service centres) at bigger stations for a supplement of 0.50 per ticket (with a maximum of 1 per occasion) since June 2004. As from Oct 1, 2005, on the train no tickets will be sold and a traveler without a valid ticket will be fined €35 plus the fare.

Divisions of NS

NS Reizigers (NSR) - NS Travellers, responsible for passenger train services and for employing train drivers and conductors.
NS Stations - in charge of the operation of all 390 railway stations in the Netherlands, i.e., also those served by other railway companies than NS Reizigers; see also station facilities.
NedTrain - train maintenance.
NS Vastgoed - owns 48 km² of land, often near stations, and develops and operates these areas as public traffic nodes, offices and apartments.
NS Commercie - marketing, sales and customer service).
NS Internationaal - operator, in conjunction with NS Reizigers and foreign partners, of international trains such as the high speed Thalys (from Amsterdam to Paris and ICE (to the German Ruhr area), the Swiss CityNightLine, (based in Zurich) travels to Munich and Zurich, and charter trains). (Night trains from Holland to Berlin or Paris no longer travel.
Nedkoleje - in a joint venture with Polish Railways (PKP), operates trains in West Pomeranian Voivodship (Zachodniopomorskie), Poland.
NedRailways - in a joint-venture with Serco, runs Merseyrail services in and around Liverpool, UK and Northern Rail in the north of England.

In dealing with the general public, these distinctions are not made and the terms Nederlandse Spoorwegen and NS are used.

NS has contracts with Connexxion and BBA for the provision of bus services to replace train services in the case of planned and unplanned cancellations.

Policy

There is a delay refund scheme entitling passengers to a partial or full refund of the ticket price if a journey is delayed by half an hour or more. The scheme does not apply on short-distance journeys and cases in which the delay is the result of planned cancellations that were announced some days in advance. Refunds are, in general, half the ticket price of a one-way trip after a delay of over 30 minutes, and the full ticket price after a delay of one hour or more. This applies to nearly all kinds of tickets. The refund is not considered a monetary compensation for lost time but rather as a reduction in charges where a poor service has been provided. The costs to NS of this scheme are kept manageable by providing a rather bureaucratic claim system: many do not claim because the system is perceived as cumbersome. Part of the cost of the scheme is paid by ProRail, since they are responsible for part of the delays.

Since January 1, 2004 tobacco smoking has been forbidden on domestic trains, station halls and covered parts of platforms. The smoking of cannabis was already forbidden, though it happens occasionally and is not as severely punished as in some other countries (it is punished the same as tobacco smoking). Smoking is allowed near smoking-zones (Rookzones), poles with an ash-tray built in, seemingly randomly scattered around stations.

Since June 2003, the sale of coffee, soft drinks, beer, sandwiches, candy, etc. has ceased aboard domestic trains. The increasing number of convenience stores at railway stations and the relatively short duration of most train journeys in the Netherlands have lowered the demand for on-train services. In 2005 a much reduced in-train service of drinks and small snacks has been reintroduced on longer journeys.

Conductors have a small computer called Railpocket with timetable and fares information. The latest version is the HP iPaq h4350 Pocket PC, which can communicate through Bluetooth with their new Sony Ericsson T610 GPRS-telephone.

In September 2005, NS publicly apologized for its World War II role in the deportation of 100,000s Jews to Nazi death camps.

Statistics

14.73 billion passenger km per year (2005), which is 30% of the seat km.

External link

www.ns.nl

Nederlandse Spoorwegen | Rail transport in the Netherlands | Railway companies of the Netherlands

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