The 12 Dutch provincial councils will be allowed to set up their own public transport companies rather than rely on the private sector, if draft legislation drawn up by the GroenLinks-PvdA and Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC) parties wins parliamentary approval.

The move follows the news that Zeeland could be without a regional bus service next year because Connexxion has announced that it will stop in 2025 and no other commercial companies have come forward to take over. 

Public transport should be considered an official basic service, which means it should be available regardless of how many people use it, GL-PvdA parliamentarian Habtamu de Hoop said.

“Over the past five years, 1,500 bus stops have been removed nationwide and that means a lot of people are finding it more difficult to get around,” he said.

The draft legislation, which is supported by a majority of MPs, has been sent to the Council of State for its opinion. If it eventually becomes law, regional transport in the Netherlands will have come full circle.

Connexxion was formed in 1999 through the merger of regional, state-owned bus companies and then privatised in 2007 when a majority stake was sold to French public transport group Transdev.

Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague public transport companies are still in local authority hands.