Dutch train services met government targets last year with almost nine in 10 trains arriving on time, track operator ProRail said on Thursday.

In total, 89.5% of trains arrived at their destination with a delay shorter than three minutes. The government target is 87%.

Nevertheless, technical problems were responsible for 40% of train cancellations in the last few months of the year, compared with 35% over the year as a whole. Electricity supply issues, and people and animals on the tracks accounted for 50% of delays.

Suicide

In total, 223 people killed themselves by jumping under a train last year, a rise of 31 on 2014. ProRail has put up fences and taken other steps to reduce the number of suicides but ‘there is little more we can do,’ a spokesman told news agency ANP.

The company, which is 100% state owned, is also facing a financial shortfall of €475m on its 2018-28 budget and may be taken back under direct government control.