Dutch railway chief quits after ‘incorrect’ statement on Limburg deal

The scandal involving a new contract to provide trains in Limburg claimed its first major scalp on Friday, with the resignation of Dutch railway chief Timo Huges.

Huges and other senior officials had been summoned by finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem to explain why a tender to provide public transport services in Limburg went so wrong.

In a damming statement, the NS said Huges had stepped down after ‘new facts’ showed he had given an ‘incorrect and incomplete’ statement about his involvement in passing on confidential information to an NS subsidiary during the tender process.

Huges, who has worked for the state-owned railway company since October 2013, will not be given a golden handshake, the NS statement said.

The contract had been awarded to Abellio – a subsidiary of state-owned railway firm NS. However, in late April evidence emerged of ‘serious irregularities’ in the contract process. In particular, NS officials are said to have passed on confidential information about Veolia – a competitor for the lucrative €2bn contract – to its Abellio and Qbuzz subsidiaries.

Earlier this week, the contract was given to German state-owned Arriva instead. A report by the Dutch consumer authority ACM, which the NS had tried to have suppressed, was also published earlier this week.

In it, the ACM claims senior NS management were aware that the NS had abused its position to disadvantage public transport firm Veolia. According to the Telegraaf, leaked emails show those in the know include Huges, a fact which he had earlier denied.