Weekly regional transport strikes begin, to run until Christmas

Regional bus and train services across most of the country are disrupted by strikes as of Wednesday morning, which trade unions CNV and FNV organised over pay and working conditions.

Staff at regional operators Arriva, EBS, Qbuzz, Transdev and Keolis are taking part. National rail operator NS is running a normal service.

City transport in Amsterdam and The Hague, run by GVB and HTM, is not affected because it falls outside the regional pay deal. In Rotterdam, RET trams and metro trains are running but its buses are not. Few or no buses and trams are expected to run in Utrecht.

The strikes could continue every week until Christmas unless the unions’ demands are met. They want higher wages, quicker access to permanent contracts for staff, and better working schemes for older employees.

They will announce each week’s strike day only shortly beforehand, assuming their demands aren’t met. They also plan to pick a different day each week, so operators can’t prepare emergency timetables and the same passengers are not hit every week.