NS offers cheaper tickets to ease busy morning trains

NS is making some rush-hour train tickets cheaper from Tuesday, in an effort to ease its busiest morning services and free up seats.

The national rail operator is extending its PrijsTijd Deals – advance-purchase tickets that give a discount for travelling on quieter trains – to the edges of the morning peak. Discounts there will average around 30%, against up to 60% in the quietest off-peak hours. The tickets must be bought at least a day ahead.

The move is separate from the €49 summer pass for unlimited off-peak travel, which runs until September 1. It is also exactly the same as an earlier NS plan to add a surcharge to peak fares, which MPs blocked in 2023.

NS says the crush is worst on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when large numbers of passengers travel within a single hour. Nudging even a fraction of them onto a train 15 or 30 minutes earlier or later, it argues, spreads the load and means more people get a seat.

“The NS, like electricity grid operators for example, has to deal with peak load,” said NS timetabling director Tijmen Voet. “But if a small percentage of travellers choose a less busy alternative, passengers have to stand far less often.”

Limited reach
Rail passengers’ association Rover welcomed the extension but said more was needed to make a real difference. It has long argued the discounts should also be bookable on the day of travel, rather than only up to a day ahead.

The reach is likely to stay limited, a Rover spokesperson said, because many hyper-peak travellers hold season tickets paid for by their employer and feel no price incentive. Others cannot shift their journey because of fixed school or work hours.

An NS trial last year found a fifth of passengers would take a quieter train in return for a discount, with most willing to wait up to half an hour. That, Voet said, lets the operator run fewer long trains for peak crowds that otherwise travel largely empty for the rest of the day.