NS plans ticket hike of at least 8.7% next year to offset losses

Dutch state-owned railway company NS is planning to put up the price of tickets by 8.7% plus inflation next year, and to cut some 500 jobs.

The company, which is 100% owned by the state, is loss-making and says the moves are necessary to restore profitability.

This year a government cash injection of €120 million staved off the threatened price hike. But so far there is no such extra help for next year, and that means the 8.7% rise plus inflation will go ahead.

The CPB macro-economic forecasting agency says inflation next year is likely to be around 2.5%. That would mean tickets would become over 11% more expensive.

The NS, which runs passenger services, said it had booked an operational loss of 109 million in the first six months of this year. Passenger numbers are still not back at pre-coronavirus levels because of the trend toward working from home, the company said.

The jobs will go at head office by not replacing people who leave or retire, and there will be no forced redundancies, the company said. Some 5,000 people currently work at the company headquarters.

No jobs will go on the operational side.

Describing the situation facing the NS as “challenging”, finance chief Angelique Magielse said it will be “costly” to “maintain the high-quality Dutch train service” from 2025, when the new concession starts. “After all, nobody wants us to run fewer trains,” she said.