Dutch Rail must put passengers first, second and third, says minister

A shift in corporate culture is needed within the Dutch railway system to put the passenger in first, second and third place, junior transport minister Wilma Mansveld said on Friday. 

All train firms must improve punctuality, cleanliness and passenger comfort, Mansfield said, and the state will take a more active role in naming managers and supervisory board members.

Rail service company NS and track operator ProRail are both state owned but operated as arms-length companies.

Network

In order to achieve this, there will be a new ‘Network Nederland’ involving rail companies, rail freight firms and regional and city public transport groups, Mansveld said.

The NS must concentrate on the main lines and reduce its involvement in regional services and abroad.

However, the NS and ProRail will remain separate companies, despite calls from parliament for them to be remerged. The companies were separated 20 years ago as part of efforts to introduce more market forces into the railway system.

Regional services

The Telegraaf reported earlier on Friday that the NS and its subsidiaries will not be allowed to tender for regional train and bus contracts, which will remain exclusive to third parties such as Arriva, Veolia and Connexxion.

The paper points out that last year NS spent millions of euros buying bus company Qbuzz and part of The Hague’s public transport company HTM. The plan had been to build a regional transport company around them, but this is now likely to be halted, the Telegraaf said.

Connexxion and Veolia are in the hands of French consortium Veoliatransdev which is 50% owned by France’s state-owned Caisse des Dépôts. Arriva is owned by German state railway firm Deutsche Bahn.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation