Sun, 14 March 2010
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Dutch rail NS met with hundreds of complaints as it introduced a new timetable on Monday and left some commuters stranded on platforms. Sound grimly familiar?Back in the summer of 2001, I often found myself waiting for regional bus and NS rail connections that invariably (rarely) met on time.
More times than I could laugh about, I would be left stranded for an hour (and sometimes two), unable to make that last 30-minute journey home until the next Interliner bus arrived. 
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.
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