I totally agree that 5 minutes should be more than fine.Howevr, the connections have to be adjusted accordingly because that can be problematic.

By kos | June 30, 2009 8:55 AM

Nice logic, NS. I wonder: Will the folks at my bank tell me that although my bank account is overdrawn, I actually have plenty of money left to spend?

By Greg | June 30, 2009 9:57 AM

Great attitude to customer service...instead of aiming to have the most prompt trains in Europe, they decide to lower their standards to the rest of the continent.

By CW | June 30, 2009 12:02 PM

5 minutes? Then what is next....10, 15, 30 minutes are ok. The train system is outdated and has obviously not improved over the years. Nonetheless, the prices rise consistently and the service will consistently go down. Let the NS go bankrupkt with the banks. For all of our taxes, it should be included for free!!

By G | June 30, 2009 2:30 PM

Too bad that the distribution never covers -5 mins, where the train actually takes you there earlier... I gave up train riding a long time ago, if no during the rush hours, driving is always cheaper and faster than taking trains.

By Zhifeng | June 30, 2009 3:10 PM

The same as Kos, they should adjust the train connections, it is unbelievable that we have to wait 30 minutes for our next connection just because the train was delayed. On the other hand, aren't we then aiming for conformism? Instead of trying to keep the schedules, do you have to tell the consumers that we should take it as normal? Then we should be thankful because the trains arrive to their destiny... Ja! Goed Gedaan

By Loulou | June 30, 2009 3:33 PM

Excellent, all my connection times are less than 5 minutes so the fact that if the train is 5 minutes late but is not really late and I miss my connection and have to wait half an hour for the next train is fine! Great!

By christine white | June 30, 2009 3:41 PM

stop your moaning the train services in the Netherlands is only bettered bye the Japanese and the German rail network considering use have the 3rd best rail service in the world i think use are doing ok stop the bitching

By freefa11 | June 30, 2009 4:01 PM

They may be running old trains but still IMHO the NS is one of the better rail services in EU. In my 28 months here I have not experienced significant problems and I always know exactly what I have to pay, independent of what time of day I travel or how in advance I purchase the ticket! Sure, nothing is perfect, but be grateful for what you have!

By Cpt. Strangepork | June 30, 2009 4:23 PM

This is a service standard across Europe as the article suggests. 5 minutes has been the standard in the UK since the early 90's. I do agree with the poster who mentions changing trains and that must be addressed. Although the service must improve regardless of this statistic you can't hold NS responsible for lorry drivers hitting bridges, idiots holding the door open etc; Have you ever tried to hold Easyjet, KLM or Ryanair responsible for being more than 5 minutes late? Let's try to keep this in perspective. If the banks were as good as NS i think we'd all be better off.

By Rich | June 30, 2009 5:18 PM

What an utter joke.

They already fudge the numbers. Now they admit it and will most likely fudge even more.

When you are the only game in town you can abuse the customer. I'd like to see NS have to compete with another carrier.

I wonder who is getting paid to let NS walk all over the consumer like this.

By Patrick | June 30, 2009 5:20 PM

I only buy a ticket 95% of the time so I guess that is OK too!

By Matt | June 30, 2009 6:01 PM

I am not into the management and control of traines BUT I do remember whatching this great program on India and though they have all sorts of other issues there, their trains are never later than 1.2 minutes late.

By Solkhar | June 30, 2009 7:40 PM

Tell that to the person's employer, when they are late for work, because the trains are allowed to be 5 mins. late.

By lb | June 30, 2009 11:58 PM

@freefa11 @Cpt. Strangepork : NS is fine in general.However when we state we didnt have problems or that is 3rd rail service in europe we should take into account that except from the car there is no other alternative for transport i.e. intercity coach lines, and that NS prices are extremely expensive for what they offer.So even if personally i dont minf the 5 mins delay for sure all connections should be adjusted because it is not a few times that people run like crazy to catch the trains or miss them and have to wait 30 mins or so. and as some1 commented why not -5 min?

By kos | July 1, 2009 10:21 AM

5 minutes late? That is just fine by me. Have you ever used the train networks in the UK? Trains are very rarely on time and sometimes just don't turn up at all. Give me Dutch railways any day!

By Deep Throat | July 1, 2009 12:27 PM

The five minutes lost isn't such a big problem unless you indeed have to catch the next connection, but considering the amount of different ways a passenger can take its impossile for NS to take all the customers in consideration, sure the five minutes can be a problem to the frustrated business man but remember that the other trains also have a five minute rate thus your chance of you missing your train is still very slim.

By Myron. | July 3, 2009 9:28 AM