Puffed out: smoking to be banned in train stations

Smoking will be entirely banned in Dutch train stations this year, according to the NS railway service.

By October, the infrastructure management company ProRail will have removed all smoking stations on platforms, and from 1^st April, the NS will stop selling tobacco in its 136 station stores.

It also pledges not to renew any contracts with sellers who want to stock the products, in a drive towards a ‘smoke-free generation in 2040.’

Their efforts align with the new government’s ‘prevention agreement’, drawn up in 2018 in an attempt to improve the nation’s health. Smoking is currently prohibited on stations in all places apart from dedicated smoking zones, and ProRail currently gives out some 2,000 fines of €95 each year.

Junior health minister Paul Blokhuis told the Parool that it was a good example. ‘If a company as big as the NS can do this, others can do it too,’ he reportedly said.