As of next Monday, the Dutch Railways will run fewer trains during rush hour. Due to declining passenger numbers due to the government's corona policy, fewer trains will also be used in the evening and at night. The evening schedule starts two hours earlier. In its own words, NS will continue to operate the full timetable for the rest of the day.

Fewer trains run between Den Helder and Alkmaar, Amsterdam and Enkhuizen and between Rotterdam and Gouda-Goverwelle. Night trains are used on the Zwolle-Groningen and Utrecht-Eindhoven-Rotterdam routes.

Before the evening lockdown, 55 percent of the usual number of travelers was on the train in the evening and now that is 40 percent. “The trains that we are temporarily canceling currently have an average of less than 15 passengers per 100 seats,” the railway company said on Thursday. “In the coming period, we will continue to closely monitor passenger numbers and adjust the deployment of our trains accordingly.”

Rover is not happy with the announcement. “NS makes this choice because there would be fewer passengers on the train. This makes economic reasons seem to take precedence over the interests of the traveler.” The organization that defends the interests of travelers in public transport wants clarity quickly and demands that the travel information be adjusted as soon as possible to "the thinned out evening timetable".

“The deteriorated service comes at a time when good service is just so important for the retention of public transport passengers.” Rover is afraid that the entire public transport sector will structurally lose passengers as a result of the NS decision.

The new NS timetable for the coming year came into effect last Sunday. Rover was reasonably pleased with this and intercity connections have generally improved, the organization said on Tuesday.

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