The Netherlands’ national railway company NS has announced it is freezing the price of domestic train travel in 2024, following the decision by the Dutch government to provide the company with 120 million in subsidies. The same can’t be said for journeys across the border though. International travellers will see price hikes of 8 percent for international train journeys.
Initially, the firm planned to increase ticket prices by an additional 3,5 percent in 2024, on top of the company’s regular annual increases. This move was opposed by many MPs and regular passengers, and was eventually scrapped by the company after the government agreed to subsidise train travel to keep prices lower.
The firm also proposed a so-called rush hour surcharge to charge people travelling at peak hours a premium and incentivise people to take trains at different times. This move was also scrapped after backlash from the public, and a number of Dutch politicians.
While the price of domestic trains will stay the same, the price of a number of other NS services will get more expensive. In 2024, the price of renting an OV bike from a train station in the Netherlands will go up by 10 cents per hour of rental, to 4,55 euros per day.
The price of international trains will also rise significantly in 2024. The government subsidies provided to stop the hike in train fares, are only to be applied to domestic travel, so international journeys will go up by 7,85 percent in 2024.
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