The Nederlandse Spoorwegen or the NS has been in the news (again) because of complaints from several organizations. The most notable of these organizations is the Stichting Consumentenclaim. This organization has been filling the NS with complaints from users because they do not have a seat on the train, and many people have to travel like sardines in the trains during peak hours. The truth of the matter is that the trains are not big enough for the number of people that have to travel. Particularly in the Randstad, the most densely populated area of the Netherlands, the situation is very difficult during the morning and evening peak hours. In a previous post, some of the readers shared their experience with the NS trains. The StichtingConsumentenclaim has recently asked train users to send them photos of the travel conditions in the trains in order to provide further evidence of the overflow of users in the trains.
The NS states that it has already purchased new trains in order to help ease this problem, however, the trains will not be here until the end of this year. There have also been numerous repairs to het spoor as well as accidents that have left many travelers stranded and/or forced to use alternative routes to get to their destination.
So what can be done?
-The Stichting Consumentenclaim is threatning to sue the NS and request at least 50% of the cost of traveling for people who have traveled in overcrowded trains. This would be a great financial loss for the NS if a court were to favor the Stichting Consumentenclaim.
-The NS has been using many of the old trains with two floors as sprinters to provide more space for travelers during the spitsuren or peak hours. Most of these trains are very old, but are reducing the problem in some areas.
-The NS has requested that people avoid traveling during spitsuren, but that can’t always be arranged. Many people begin work between 8:30 and 9:00 and end their working day between 17:00 and 18:00. Many travel products are allowed only during daluren or non-peak hours, and the feature of samenreiskorting was changed at the beginning of this year to only apply during daluren.
-The NS has also asked schools to start classes later in order to have less people traveling during spitsuren. While this solution could potentially decrease the users during spitsuren, it does not take into account many other factors. Many students work and have other activities during the evening, and forcing them into a traveling time is hardly a solution to the real problem. On Monday, students around the country protested to this solution by purposely traveling during the spitsuren and holding banners in the stations saying Studenten uit de spits? Dacht het niet (Students outside the peaks? I don´t think so.).
-At the end of the day, the NS’s mantra is “Wij bieden een vervoersplaats en geen zitplaats” (We provide a transport place and not a seat). While this is true of all public transport (who hasn’t traveled standing on a bus), the question of how much space each person gets is not clear.
The NS has a complicated problem to deal with, and the solutions proposed seem to only patch up a problem that will resurface again. But like the following video says, it is a work in progress. During non-peak hours, the NS service is, at least in my experience, excellent. There has to be a better solution for spitsuren!
What suggestions do you have for the Nederlandse Spoorwegen?
Nederlandse Spoorwegen– literal translation is Dutch railroads, this is the name for the national railroad company
Consumentenclaim- literal translation is consumer rights, this is an organization that looks after the rights of consumer
de Randstad- this is the name given to the area surrounding Amsterdam and Utrecht, which is the most densely populated area of the Netherlands
de spoor/de sporen- the railway/railways de spitsuren- peak hours (between 6:30 and 9:00 and 16:00 to 18:30)
de daluren- literal translation would be rush hours but this is the term the NS gives to non-rush hours (between 9:00 and 16:00 and 18:30 to 6:30)
de samenreiskorting- discount for traveling together with someone who has a discount card
de vervoersplaats- transport place
Since I was a little girl, I was fascinated with languages and writing. I speak English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and a little bit of French. I am a writer, reader, language teacher, traveler, and a food lover!
I now live in The Netherlands with my husband Riccardo, our cat Mona, and our dog Lisa, and the experience has been phenomenal. The Dutch culture is an exciting sometimes topsy-turvy world that I am happily exploring!
