Arriva wants to take over the slow trains between the stations of Groningen/Leeuwarden and Zwolle from the Dutch Railways from 2025. If the cabinet agrees, the NS would only keep the intercity trains between Groningen/Leeuwarden and the Randstad.
The province of Drenthe does want Arriva to run slow trains to and from Zwolle, but only as an addition to the slow trains of NS. The three northern provinces fear that they will lose all grip on rail transport if Arriva gets permission.
What the northern provinces fear is the so-called ‘open access’ on the railways. Until now, the national government has always given the concession for the main railway network to NS. This is also the intention for both the slow trains and the intercity trains after 2025. The concession is subject to many agreements, for example with the ministry and the provinces about the frequency of train services.
The European Union emphasizes the importance of allowing other carriers to use the main railway network. This is called open access, and there are no conditions attached. A carrier then runs without a subsidy, but also without mandatory agreements about how many trains run and how often. In addition, the carrier can determine what a train ticket costs.
Provincial driver Henk Jumelet (Traffic and Transport): “We think it’s a good idea if Arriva would run extra alongside the NS. If there is an improvement compared to what is now, that’s fine. But not Arriva instead of the NS,” he emphasizes.
Arriva does not shy away from accountability for the slow train timetable in the North. Provinces that doubt this are suffering from cold feet, says regional director Jieskje Hollander of Arriva.
“The train ticket really does not become more expensive than the regular fare in public transport,” she emphasizes. “The government does not have to pay a subsidy either. And it is not necessary for us, but we can always make agreements on a voluntary basis.”
According to Hollander, Arriva’s performance is good, as the past shows. She points to how Arriva has significantly improved the train service Emmen – Zwolle after the departure of the NS and also how the carrier successfully runs other lines in Groningen and Friesland.
According to Jumelet, there is nothing to be said about that either, because Arriva does it well. But in all those cases Arriva drives on behalf of the provinces. This will change with the so-called open access between Groningen/Leeuwarden and Zwolle. “We want to be in the driver’s seat ourselves. Now we know what we have and later you don’t know what you’re getting.”
But Arriva is not satisfied with that statement. Hollander: “The only way to get over that cold feet is to just take the leap.”
Hollander sums up what Arriva will do better than the Dutch Railways. “We are actually going to run more slow trains and run earlier and later in the day. During rush hour we want to add express trains between Groningen and Zwolle that stop in Assen, Hoogeveen and Meppel, so that we have a train there every 15 minutes during rush hour.”
She continues: “We drive a bit faster than NS. And in the event of a major national disruption on the railways, we can almost always continue to drive, as we have shown in recent years.”
On Sunday, the carrier between Groningen and Zwolle wants to start earlier with a half-hour drive. The NS now does this from three o’clock in the afternoon, Arriva wants that from eleven in the morning.
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