Roughly one in ten trains in the Netherlands ran late in the first three months of 2015, according to rail monitoring website Spoormonitor.
The website, run by rail user organisations Treinreiziger.nl, Voor Beter OV and Rover, tracks train punctuality across the Netherlands.
Spoormonitor calculated train punctuality at 403 stations in the Netherlands between January 1 and April 1, 2015.
Trains departing more than 3 minutes after their scheduled time are classified as late, as are trains that are cancelled. The website also provides constant punctuality updates on all current train services.
The top five train services, each with 100 per cent punctuality, were the:
› 10:33 Sprinter Kampen - Zwolle
› 17:00 Stoptrein Lichtenvoorde-G. - Zutphen
› 14:06 Stoptrein Apeldoorn - Zutphen
› 20:08 Sprinter Alphen a/d Rijn - Gouda
› 18:48 Stoptrain Almelo - Mariënberg
The 13:09 and 9:09 sprinters from Bunnik to Breuleken are in the unenviable position of being the least punctual trains in the Netherlands, both running to schedule only 43,3 per cent of the time.
Other train services that rate the lowest, with punctuality at 50 per cent or less, were the:
› 20:55 ICE Arnhem - Amsterdam Centraal
› 1:29 Sprinter Barendrecht - Dordrecht
› 20:05 Thalys Rotterdam Centraal - Amsterdam Centraal
With nine different train operators in the Netherlands it’s also interesting to see which providers performed the best. Syntus, a train operator in the regions of Gelderland, Overijssel and Twente was the most punctual, with 97,8 per cent of its services running on time.
NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), the biggest and principal rail operator in the Netherlands, was ranked seventh, with 87,5 per cent of its services running to schedule.
Deutsche Bahn, the German rail company which runs international services into the Netherlands, was uncharacteristically ranked ninth and last with a poor score of 68,7 per cent punctuality due to strikes in Germany.
The top-performing train stations are Gulpen-Wijlre, Eijs-Wittem and Simpelveld which each claim 100 per cent punctuality. These three stations form part of a historic railway line and only receive trains operated by the Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschappij - a steam train operator in Limburg.
The most punctual station that receives non-historic trains is Apeldoorn De Maten, whose Arriva train services were punctual 99,3 per cent of the time.
The five Dutch stations with worst punctuality are Rotterdam Stadion (46,5 per cent), Eygelshoven Markt (73 per cent), Nijkerk (73,6 per cent), Nieuw Vennep (73,8 per cent) and Eijsden (75,3 per cent).