Back in the summer of 2001, I often found myself waiting for regional bus and NS rail connections that invariably (rarely) met on time.

The NS train simply kept running late, only by 10 minutes, but 10 minutes was all it took.

And living in a small Dutch town beyond the better connected Randstad region, I was simply forced to wait for the next (and sometimes last) bus of the evening.

At times, I arrived home at 11pm.

Now, just starting work at Expatica, I was also relatively new to the Netherlands and confronted with such poor public transport, I quickly took a disliking to the NS.

Back in the days prior to my first car purchase here, I was unfortunate enough to be fully reliant on trains in what became the infamous year of strikes and outrageous delays.

It was highlighted by Queen's Day rail chaos, cancellations, three new timetables for the year, breakdowns, signal faults and the eventual resignation of NS management.

The year 2001 was so bad, the Dutch government eventually clamped down by restricting NS ticket price rises in 2003 and the rail operator also introduced a compensation system. I made use of it.

Since then, the NS has admittedly worked hard to improve its image — and its punctuality has improved accordingly.

The incentive of an agreement with commuter associations that prices could be increased if punctuality targets were met was also an outstanding incentive for the NS. Profits talk.

Nonetheless, cynicism aside, those targets were met.

But now, I grimly write that the NS introduced a new timetable on Monday under the slogan 'More, easy and reliable'. Well, the jury is still out on that one.

In fact, the NS warned commuters last week that problems will occur. It said commuters and NS staff will need time to adjust to the new train times.

And commuter group Rover said on Monday morning it had received a couple of hundred complaints from the public.

Most complaints related to the timetable itself, dominated by grief over poor connections between regional public transport networks and NS trains. Sound familiar?

Many of the complainants had a few things to say about the replacement of intercities by 'stop trains'.

The switchover to the new timetable did not lead to any great chaos, however.

Nevertheless, problems at a local level were being reported.

"In some places, travellers had to stay behind on the platform because it was too busy," a Rover spokesman said.

Information services were also not in order at some stations and complaints were lodged about the station Amsterdam-Bijlmer, where construction workers were still working.

In response, the NS said rail network authority ProRail was at fault.

"But, of course, the NS is disappointed at the course of events. Hard work is being done to resolve the problems," an NS spokeswoman said.

Unions FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijvenbond were pleased with the switchover.

The FNV said it was a "faultless introduction" and the CNV said there was no discord among personnel.

"But staff have encountered irritation among travellers. Here and there, trains that were too short were deployed resulting in people having to stay behind on the platform," an FNV spokesman said.

He said some workers would be better off than others under the new timetable, but in general, staff were satisfied.

Which is an important point, if you take the 2001 strikes into account.

In that year, staff protested en masse against plans to introduce a new 'efficiency' timetable in which conductors and drivers would stick with the same route — indefinitely.

Staff dubbed it "een rondje om de kerk" (a trip around the church) and went out on strike to complain about looming boredom.

This anti-boredom protest forced my visiting sister and brother-in-law to take a trip around the church themselves as they chased alternative forms of transport for the best part of an evening to arrive at our home in the country.

So if staff are satisfied with the new system, then at least the new NS timetable (version 2006) is a step in the right direction.

It just remains to be seen whether the public will be satisfied. Unions have said it will take two weeks before it is known whether the new system works.

Until such time, I'd love to hear any of your complaints, experiences or praise for the NS. We'll compile your emails and publish them online.

Until such time, happy (hopefully) commuting!

11 December 2006

Aaron Gray-Block
Editor
Expatica Netherlands

Want to reply? Send your email to feedback@expatica.com.

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Hi,

I live in Amsterdam and I do not rely on public transport for my daily commute to work. Instead I ride a moped and this allows me to know exactly how long the trip will take, regardless of strikes, weather, traffic, you name it. I chose the neighbourhood where I live because of its relative proximity to my work and in spite of the added expense which the choice incurred. I really value my reliable commute.

What gets to me, however, is that every six months when I use the alternative of a bus and train to get to work (for example when the moped needs some work done), the train is systematically late or cancelled, whereas the buses run like clockwork.

The buses are in fact so frequent on my particular route that they are often mostly empty, whereas the trains are always full, always late and always a shambles. (Trams are the same as buses, by the way, there always seems to be one around the corner).

In my opinion, this is a sign of bad management on NS's part, and a sign that too much money is being spent on running empty buses while not enough is being spent on running the trains on time.

Cheers,
Nicholas.

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I haven't even ridden on the trains this week and already I have complaints.  Since Sunday, it's been impossible to get anything other than an error from www.ns.nl.  It's Tuesday now.  Surely they could have expected that there would be additional page views with the entire schedule changing ... and besides, www.9292ov.nl, which also has the new information, is still responding!

Ann Barcomb

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Hi Aaron,

I commute daily from Rotterdam where I live to my office in Amsterdam Bijlmer. Previously, the connection between these two places were already not fantastic (frequency of train service), but this new timetable brings a new set of problem, without actually solving the old:

• Increase travel time by about 10-15 minutes,
• The most convenient, direct train (Sprinter) which used to arrive at Bijlmer just before 9am was moved half an hour earlier,
• Now I have to make a change at Utrecht, where there is usually delays,
• Other options require even longer travel time and with two changes

I really wonder what justification NS has for this change in timetable? From what I've read in many media channels, this new schedule only seems to make the NS happier. It doesn't seem to add more value to commuters. Commuters, like myself, have to endure greater inconvenience (like having to change one or two trains to get to our destinations), longer travel time and even paying more every year.

In their TV ads, the NS claimed that the train times will be easier to remember since they will be at every quarter of an hour. Ahem... that's definitely not the case for the ones I'm taking!

Name withheld

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[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2006]

Subject: Dutch rail NS, new train timetable, life in Holland