Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) has announced its new rates for next year, confirming that ticket prices will rise by an average of 4,3 percent from January 1, 2023, while the price for a second-class train ticket will increase by 5,5 percent.
While an ongoing shortage of staff has forced NS to cut a number of services over the past several weeks, rising salaries and the high cost of energy and fuel mean the rail company will be raising its rates for 2023, similarly to various other Dutch public transport operators.
Every year, NS adjusts its rates to keep up with inflation and rising operational costs - and 2023 is no different. On Thursday morning, the company revealed that, on average, passengers will pay an additional 4,3 percent to travel by train from January. Prices for international travel will increase by an average of 5 percent.
The price of individual second-class tickets will increase by 5,5 percent next year, but NS has also committed to reducing rates for season ticket holders in an attempt to make regular train travel more attractive and affordable. Any passengers with a subscription that allows unlimited travel on a specific route or throughout the Netherlands will see their prices drop by 2,4 percent.
“We want to keep the price of the train ticket affordable so that as many people as possible can travel by train,” said Tjalling Smit, the board member responsible for train and season tickets at NS. Smit explained that “sky-high inflation” means costs for NS will increase by 6,3 percent in 2022 and 2023.
The price hike of 4,3 percent means the rail company will cover the difference - a total of over 100 million euros - itself, which Smit says helps to make train travel a more adorable mode of transportation than driving.
In addition to attempting to limit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the rising costs on passengers, NS says it has asked the Dutch government to consider reducing taxes on public transport in the Netherlands by setting the VAT rate at 0 percent.