Staff shortages and an increasing number of technical failures mean Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is experiencing a record-breaking year when it comes to disruption to train travel in the Netherlands. De Volkskrant reports that most delays were detected in and around Schiphol Airport. 

Train travel in the Netherlands sees record number of disruptions

According to an investigation carried out by De Volkskrant, train travel in the Netherlands has been especially bad in 2022. Not only have a number of services been scrapped as a result of severe staff shortages across the country, but extreme weather has also led to disruptions, and a nationwide blackout in April meant all trains had to be cancelled. 

If things don’t get better - and soon - De Volkskrant predicts that this would be one of the worst years for train travel the Netherlands has ever seen. “If the current trend continues, 2022 with already 3.483 disruptions will come close to the record year 2019, when almost 6.000 unplanned changes to the timetable were reported,” the newspaper writes. Sadly, the strikes that took place at the end of August probably mean that change isn't imminent. 

NS train routes that experience the most delays 

According to data gathered over the past 11 years, the 10 routes most likely to experience delays are:

1. Amsterdam - Schiphol (1.887 incidents) 
2. Amersfoort - Schiphol (1.780)
3. Rotterdam - Schiphol (1.716)
4. Breda - Rotterdam (1.704)
5. Lelystad - Schiphol (1.654)
6. Schiphol - Utrecht (1.595)
7. Leiden - Schiphol (1.529)
8. The Hague HS - Rotterdam (1.407)
9. Rotterdam - Utrecht (1.375)
10. The Hague - Utrecht (1.344)

The research revealed that, since 2011, NS has reported 42.690 (technical) malfunctions, the majority of which occurred on a Monday. The main cause for delays and disruptions to train travel is faulty trains, followed by collisions.