Railway workers have been told to stop taking the train to work during rush hour in an effort to reduce overcrowding, the Telegraaf said on Tuesday.

Chief executive Roger van Boxtel has written to staff urging them to avoid the train to free up space for paying customers, the paper said. NS staff have free travel.

‘In particular, we can make a difference on trains to and from Utrecht,’ he said in a company email. The NS is headquartered in Utrecht and Van Boxtel estimates 5% of passengers travelling to and from the city work on the railways.

The NS expects to carry a record 33.3 million passengers this month and is grappling with a shortage of rolling stock.

Managers have now been told they have to make agreements with staff about avoiding the rush hour. Meetings can no longer be head at headquarters between 8.00 and 9.30 ‘unless everyone is in the office before 8.00’, the Telegraaf said.