Train operator NS is putting on extra trains from Monday to Thursday but cutting services on Friday to reflect changed working patterns since the coronavirus pandemic.

An extra 1,800 services a week are being added to the winter timetable, which starts on December 10. NS is also running more weekend services on routes where demand is highest, including through Schiphol airport.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays have become typical commuter days,” the state-owned company said, explaining its decision to run more trains at the start of the week. “That requires a different timetable from what we had before.”

Four trains an hour will run on the routes from Utrecht to Rotterdam, Amsterdam to The Hague, Schiphol to Nijmegen and Dordrecht to Schiphol, including at weekends, when the service was previously reduced to two an hour.

Direct high-speed trains from Breda to Amsterdam are being restored, while the time for the international train to Berlin is being cut to less than six hours.

“These are extra trains and connections that ensure this country is easy to reach and which travellers can benefit from,” NS president Wouter Koolmees said.

Routes where services are being reduced on Fridays include Utrecht to Hoofddorp and Hoofddorp to Leiden, where two sprinter trains an hour will operate. Fewer trains will also run off-peak between Amsterdam and Almere Oostvaarders and between Utrecht and Woerden.