NS will probably not use NS buses during the outage
Last Saturday was not a good day for travelers who had to go to Schiphol from Leiden. Also on Sunday, the NS is calling on travelers to postpone their train journey until at least 17.00 p.m. due to a technical malfunction. As a result, no trains run.
The travel advice in the NS Travel Planner is not up-to-date due to the malfunction and it is not even possible to provide any information about the trains at stations. Only the routes of regional carriers are used, although the travel information here is not up to date either.
Due to a technical malfunction, NS is currently experiencing major problems and the NS trains will not run until at least 17 p.m. We strongly advise you not to travel, or if you are on the road, to look for other travel options. The current travel information is also disrupted: the travel advice in the travel planner does not show delays or canceled trains. We can't even give any information at the stations. We are working hard on recovery, but unfortunately it is not yet possible to say how long this situation will last. The trains do run on the routes of the regional carriers, although no current travel information can be given. Disruptions in train traffic at the moment: All NS trains with a scheduled departure time before 17 p.m. will not run.
Also in Belgium was a few weeks same scenario by the Flemish bus company De Lijn. Travelers knew nothing and no De Lijn information could be seen via social media or the website. According to a spokesperson for NS, a solution is being worked hard, but it is not yet known when the problems will be solved.
Anyone who has already started a journey will probably have to get off the train at the next station. According to the spokesperson for the NS, NS buses will probably not be used, because many more people fit on a train and this is therefore "not an option".
The number of passengers on NS trains is increasing. The advice to work from home has expired and on Wednesday 23 March the obligation to wear a mouth cap on the train has expired. In the following week, the number of travelers was 73 percent, compared to the same week in 2019. At the beginning of March, this was still 63 percent. That percentage is higher on weekends.
