Sandwiches and a cup of coffee on the train, reserved seats, cheaper standing places, dozens of night trains: it is the beckoning view that Arthur Kamminga sketched in court in The Hague on Tuesday. But that will only happen if the Dutch rail market is opened up to other parties, warns the representative of AllRail, which represents European transport companies such as Flixbus. And that is not the case at the moment. ‘The Dutch traveler now has absolutely nothing to choose from. He is sentenced to the NS or the car.’
More and more transport companies are grumbling about the position of the Dutch Railways (NS). Although the rail company has become independent – and therefore no different on paper from other companies – the NS still enjoys preferential treatment from the government.
This is most visible when the railway concession is awarded, the permit to use the largest part of the track. This is consistently awarded privately to the NS. As far as the cabinet is concerned, the next concession will also go to the railway company. As a result, the NS will again be protected from competition until 2034.
‘Level playing field’
This must come to an end, according to competing transport companies, which have filed summary proceedings against the state. These include Arriva, Transdev (Connexxion), Keolis, Qbuzz and EBS – united in the Federation of Mobility Companies in the Netherlands (FMN). AllRail has also joined the lawsuit on behalf of its members. They argue that the government should not award the concession privately.
The companies have support from an unexpected quarter: the European Commission is also concernedserious concerns about the legality’ of the award. She demands that the government involve other companies in the tender in the form of a so-called market survey, in which every carrier can offer its services.
Because the cabinet continues to refuse, the parties involved will meet in court on Tuesday morning. There it appears that the government and the NS are diametrically opposed to the transport companies. The companies demand that the government opens up the market, and invoke European regulations and the opinion of the European Commission. Moreover, competition produces a better product for the train passenger, so it sounds.
More carriers on the rail does not have to be a soft spot for the NS, the lawyer emphasizes on behalf of the FMN. Diederik Schrijvershof: ‘The NS now has the best credentials and a huge head start. If they make a good offer later, they can continue to run a lot of lines. We just want a level playing field.’
‘Billion investment’
The state lawyer, who represents the cabinet, in turn claims that an open market is disastrous for the quality of the rail network. ‘The ministry now influences the frequency of the number of trains, the transfer time and the seating time. In an open market there is no control mechanism whatsoever to guarantee that quality.’ He also calls it an ‘absurd statement’ that competitors of the NS have sufficient ‘power and equipment’ to serve Dutch travelers. After all, that requires a ‘billion-dollar investment’.
This much to the dismay of the FMN lawyer, who drops his head on the table. ‘At first we were kept out because, as European transport companies, we were supposed to take over the Dutch market. And now it is said that our pockets are not deep enough. I live in a kind of joke. The Netherlands is a Gallic village, while sixteen European countries already have an open market.’
What if there is now great interest in driving on the Dutch railway, the judge asks the national lawyer. Will the state do anything about it? ‘No, the state has nothing to do with that,’ is the answer. FMN’s lawyer raises his hands in the air, as a gesture of impotence. “We are at the mercy of the gods.” He then turns to the court: ‘The signals are at red and yet the ministry wants the NS to continue running at all costs. This monopoly must be ended immediately and I need you for that.’
The verdict will follow in two weeks.