Passenger services company NS and track operator ProRail should work more closely together with better work planning and reporting systems, according to a highly critical report on the railway system.

In addition, the transport minister should keep a tighter rein on the state-owned railway operators so that parliament has greater insight into the financing, the report said, according to the Volkskrant.
The commission, under the leadership of Labour MP Attje Kuijken, was set up last year to look at problems on the railways and how to solve them.
Finances
The report said that at least €1.4b allocated for railway maintenance had been spent on roads, research and shoring up the finances of the high-speed train system, the NRC reported.
‘It is now totally unclear what state the railways are in because ProRail places responsibility with the contractors, without monitoring their performance.
The report also criticised transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen for only looking at the short term and focusing on cutting costs. She has also failed to keep parliament properly informed about the situation, the report said.
In a reaction, Schultz van Haegen said she would not invest more money in the railways. ‘The report concludes that in international terms we have a good railway network,’ she told MPs. ‘I am doing all I can to keep that, and I think we can do it within the current budget.’