The NS plan to travel from Breda and Rotterdam on the HSL and via Amsterdam-Zuid to the north and east of the Netherlands in 2023 will be postponed by at least one year. This is stated in a letter to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The reason for this is that part of the delivery of the new fast intercity trains (ICNG) has been delayed due to the consequences of the corona crisis. 

I regret this delay, which may have been caused by external circumstances, but it does mean that the new ICNG trains cannot be deployed as quickly. That is why I will actively address NS to have the introduction take place as soon as possible, of course with due observance of the care required when using new rolling stock. In order to prevent further delays, for example, NS has taken a number of measures together with supplier Alstom, such as restarting series production in Poland with additional COVID-19-related adjustments and weekly monitoring of sub-suppliers. NS expects that it will be able to test the trains extensively this year by means of these measures, says Stientje van Veldhoven.

The timetable for the new connection is not expected to start until 2024 at the earliest. A number of ICNG trains have now been delivered and are currently being used for test runs in our country. If the test drives are good, expect NS to be able to transport the first travelers at the end of this year. Due to the later delivery of these fast intercity trains, a number of major changes to the timetable will be canceled for the time being.  

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