NS timetable changes: What to expect for Dutch train travel in 2026
Ronald Wilfred Jansen / Shutterstock.com
By Simone Jacobs
Dutch rail operator NS has announced changes to its 2026 timetable. From December 14, rail services in the Netherlands will be expanded with more early and late trains, additional trains on select routes, and more.
NS announces expansion of train timetable for 2026
2025 saw the biggest rail expansion in years, and the new NS timetable plans to build on that for next year. The 2026 timetable will be implemented from December 14, 2025 and will see changes to departure and arrival times for various trains.
Some of the main changes include running more trains earlier in the day and more late at night, while also adding more trains on several routes, including international ones, and improving connections to a number of Dutch cities.
More Dutch trains running on several routes
The provinces of Zeeland and North Brabant will be better connected in 2026, with the train between Zwolle and Roosendaal travelling to Vlissingen once every hour. This will also make it possible for travellers from Vlissingen to get to Breda, Tilburg and beyond more easily.
“To celebrate this, NS will be serving the perfect combination of Zeeland and Brabant delicacies to passengers in Vlissingen on Monday, December 15: the "worstenbolus" (sausage bun),” the rail operator announced in a press release.
An additional train will also be added on the route between Amersfoort and Deventer, bringing the total to four Intercity trains per hour. The number of Sprinter trains between Uitgeest and Amsterdam Centraal Station will be doubled to four per hour on weekends.
Improvements are also being made to the Old Line, where many homes are scheduled to be built in the coming years. More frequent trains will run between The Hague and Dordrecht on weekends, with four trains running per hour instead of the usual two.
Trains will also start running earlier in the morning, for example from Utrecht to Driebergen-Zeist and from Hilversum to Schiphol. Trains will run until later in the evenings on various routes, such as the ones from Hoofddorp to Amsterdam, from Leeuwarden to Zwolle and Utrecht, from The Hague to Utrecht and Amersfoort, between The Hague and Rotterdam, and more.
Eurostar will also add a fifth daily connection from Amsterdam to London. Earlier this year, a fourth train was added after the new UK terminal at the Dutch train station was completed.
NS still faces challenges next year
“Despit NS’s high ambitions, there are also challenges,” writes the public transport company. Rail speed limits which have been put into effect since 2024 still apply and will continue to impact high-speed lines.
ProRail is also carrying out extensive works on the tracks next year, starting as early as January and February. This will significantly impact passengers travelling around Schiphol Airport, The Hague and Haarlem. The number of major disruptions on the Dutch railways exceeded the maximum limit for the first time ever, and it looks like 2026 will not be off to a good start.
Along with timetable changes and disruptions, train ticket prices will also see a rise next year. NS is raising ticket prices by more than 6 percent, though this is lower than the original 12 percent that was expected.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more