The new railway timetable which comes into effect on December 9 means 30% of departure times will be changed and more services will operate, Dutch Rail said on Tuesday.

The biggest change comes from the launch of the new Hanzelijn service between Lelystad and Zwolle, which will cut the time it takes to travel from central urban areas to Groningen by up to 15 minutes.
Nine new stations are also being opened from the end of the year: Almere Poort, Groningen Europapark, Halfweg-Zwanenburg, Hengelo Gezondheidspark, Utrecht Leidsche Rijn, Hoevelaken, Maastricht Noord, Dronten and Kampen Zuid.
In total, 35 companies (passenger and freight) use the Dutch railway network, making some 3.3 million journeys a year.
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