Nederlandse Spoorwegen Recent Years (NS)

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Recent Years (NS)

The timetable change on 10 December 2006 saw the most routes to approximate the symmetry minute in clock-face schedules to the one used in most other European countries. The previous symmetry minute 46 led to problems with cross-border trains. As of December 2022 the company's CEO is former minister Wouter Koolmees, after Marjan Rintel left to become CEO of KLM.

NS was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused massive drops in passenger numbers. The company received significant financial support from the national government in order to keep the company solvent. In 2022, the company made significant cuts in its timetable, running fewer and shorter trains, as a consequence of personnel shortages.

NS Controversies

NS has been involved in various controversies:

• Technical problems with the high-speed V250 trains, which started their services on 29 July 2013, and ended on 17 January 2014, led to the resignation of CEO Bert Meerstadt in June 2016 and a parliamentary investigation in 2016. The High Speed Alliance (HSA), an NS (80%) / KLM (20%) joint venture almost went bankrupt due to the late introduction of the trains in combination with a too high price for the concession which the company paid to the Dutch government. HSA was liquidated in 2017.
• In 2013, it was revealed that NS had been using a subsidiary in Ireland, NS Financial Services Company (NSFSC), to reduce its tax liability in the Netherlands. The procedure was determined to be lawful, but it was unfavorable for the Dutch taxpayers for a state-owned company to avoid national taxes. From 1998 the NS used the favourable tax climate in Ireland, which resulted in a profit for NS of more than €270 million but a loss to the Dutch state of €21 million in 2012 alone. The corporate tax rate in Ireland was 12.5%, in the Netherlands 25% at that time. NS used its Irish subsidiary to buy new trains, among others the high-speed V250 trains from the Italian firm AnsaldoBreda. The Dutch Minister of Finance, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, wrote to the parliament that NS would stop this tax evasion. Most rolling stock was transferred to the Netherlands-based NS Lease in December 2017. NSFSC was wound up in April 2019.
• In 2015 it became clear that a subsidiary of NS, Abellio, had shown unfair behaviour about a tendering for public transport in the province of Limburg. The company had obtained confidential information from a competitor, Veolia, through a former employee of Veolia who had been hired by Abellio subsidiary Qbuzz. On 5 June 2015, it became clear that CEO Timo Huges of the NS had given incomplete and incorrect information about the tendering procedure. According to Minister Dijsselbloem, Huges had acted "sloppy, inaccurate and in violation of the law." Consequently, Huges resigned from his position.

NS Coverage

The NS covers most of the country, with almost all cities connected, mostly with a service frequency of two trains an hour or more and at least four trains per hour between all of the largest five cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven) as well as some smaller cities (Nijmegen, Amersfoort, Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch, Dordrecht and Leiden). From December 2008 train frequencies were increased on the following services: Arnhem–Nijmegen (8 trains per hour) and The Hague–Rotterdam (12 trains per hour), Amsterdam Centraal–Hoofddorp (16 trains per hour). A night train service was added between Utrecht, Gouda and Rotterdam. Trains usually run between 5:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. although there is also a nightline which connects major cities in the Randstad throughout the night, as well as in weekends also some major cities in North Brabant.

In addition to its domestic services, NS is also a partner (along with Stena Line and its British railway company Abellio Greater Anglia) in the Dutchflyer service. NS has also entered into a partnership with KLM to operate services on the new HSL-Zuid under the name Intercity Direct towards Breda and Brussels. Intercity Direct is part of NS International, other services such as Eurostar to France and Intercity-Express to Germany and Switzerland are also part of NS International.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS Nederlandse Spoorwegen) Overview

NS Locale: Netherlands
NS Dates of Operation: 1938–present
NS Predecessor:
Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM)
Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS)
NS Track Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
NS Company Type: State-owned naamloze vennootschap
NS Industry: Rail transport
NS Founded: 1938
NS Headquarters: Utrecht, Netherlands
NS Key People: Wouter Koolmees (CEO)
NS Products: Rail transport, rail construction, services
NS Revenue:
Decrease €5,980 million (2021)
€6,661 million (2019)
NS Net Income:
Increase €116 million (2018)
€47 million (2017)
NS Total Assets:
Increase €7,030 million (2018)
€6,214 million (2017)
NS Total Equity:
Decrease €11,786 million (2021)
€3,477 million (2017)
NS Number of Employees:
Increase 38,600 (2020)
40,978 (2020)
NS Parent: State of the Netherlands
NS Subsidiaries:
Abellio
Nedkoleje
NSRegio (99%)
WestfalenBahn
Nederlandse Spoorwegen