Bus companies are struggling to recruit enough drivers as thousands of experienced drivers come up for retirement, broadcaster NOS said on Monday.

Between them, Connexxion and Arriva employ 9,500 drivers but up to 50% are due to retire in the next years. This means some 400 new drivers have to be recruited every year.

‘It is a huge number,’ Connexxion personnel manager Colin Breel said. ‘It takes 10 to 15 applications to find one good candidate.’

Amsterdam public transport company GVB also expects to face the ‘challenge’ of recruiting enough new drivers. In Rotterdam, however, the average age of a bus driver is younger than in the capital and at regional bus firms and the RET does not expect any problems in the near future, NOS said.