Never again, says minister of railway chaos

Thursday 21 January 2010

The problems faced by rail passengers during the recent wintry weather are unacceptable and must never be repeated, transport minister Camiel Eurlings told MPs on Wednesday evening.

Thousands of passengers were stranded or unable to get to work when Dutch Rail (NS) cancelled services on a massive scale during the big freeze.

And the directors of both the passenger service arm and track operating company belonging to Dutch Rail have apologised for the problems and assured him they will not be repeated, Eurlings told MPs during the debate.

NS and Prorail are state-owned but operate at arms length.

According to the Telegraaf, Eurlings has commissioned research bureau Twijnstra Gudde to carry out an independent assessment into the problems on the railways. The report, which will also look at NS funding, is due to be completed by the end of the month. After that, Eurlings said, he would decide what steps to take to improve services.

© DutchNews.nl

Readers' comments

Comments have been closed for this article.