Coronavirus: NS reducing the number of train services

In light of the coronavirus situation in the Netherlands, the Dutch railway company NS has decided to limit the number of train services it offers. Changes to its services will be in place from Saturday, March 21, onwards. How long they will stay in place is not yet clear. 

Two trains per hour

As of Saturday, only two trains will run per hour in all directions from every station in the Netherlands, as opposed to the many running per hour on the usual train time table. For those stations where there’s only one train service per hour per direction, nothing is changing. 

Certain services will no longer be running, these include the Intercity Direct, the Intercity The Hague - Eindhoven and all night trains. International trains will also run according to a drastically adjusted timetable, also dependent on policy abroad. 

Important routes & passenger advice

Most Intercity trains will stop running. However, Intercity train services will continue on important north-south and east-west routes in both directions. These routes are Schiphol - Venlo, Arnhem - Den Helder, Maastricht - Eindhoven and Enschede - Utrecht. On other routes, Sprinter services will be available, these stop at every intermediary station. 

Passengers should keep in mind that they may have a longer journey time and have to switch trains more often due to the reduction of train services. They should also be aware that not all facilities at stations will be open. NS will, however, try to make sure that at least one Tickets & Service desk or OV Service shop is open, where possible. 

In keeping with the government measures, NS ask passengers to keep their distance from each other in the train. The railway company also asks passengers to check the NS app or travel planner shortly before leaving to catch the train as changes may still be made to services.