The Dutch Railways announced today that they are going to work with the Child Care and Protection Board (RvdK). A cooperation agreement has been signed by NS and the Child Care and Protection Board. Young people between 12 and 18 years old who commit a criminal offense on the train or at the station can now receive a community service order that must be carried out at the station. 

The cooperation was prompted by an incident in 2019 where two young people damaged a train and carried out their community service at NS. Pepijn de Wijs (RvdK) was involved in this as board investigator. “It is very nice to see that an agreement has now been concluded so that more young people can carry out their community service with NS in the future,” says De Wijs. The agreement is unique, says Herke Elbers, general director of the RvdK: “NS is the first large organization with which we enter into such a partnership. We want to explore whether other national organizations are also open to this. ”

The main goal of this collaboration is that young people become more aware of the consequences of the damage they have caused. Hoping they won't make this mistake again in the future. This cooperation came about as a result of an incident in 2019, in which two young people had damaged a train and had to carry out their community service with the Dutch Railways. The community service will largely consist of, for example, cleaning the station hall or cleaning up litter.

NS hopes that the collaboration will help raise awareness among young people. “We work every day to make it as safe as possible on our trains and at stations. Unfortunately, we also have to deal with nasty incidents such as vandalism. We believe that the next time young people think twice before they destroy something, if they know the impact that will have on my colleagues and our travelers ”, says Femke Woudstra, director of Station Management and Operation at NS.

“Community service orders help to prevent young people from going wrong again. By carrying out community service, the young person contributes to repairing that damage and does something in return for society, ”says Herke Elbers, general director of the RvdK. Community service also has an educational value: Because the young person has to roll up his sleeves, he realizes that he is responsible for his own actions. ”

Also read: Slightly less aggression against NS employees

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