The government continues to plan to award the operation of the most important intercity trains and local trains to the Dutch Railways in the future. That is what State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management, CDA) said in the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening during a debate about the railways.
The Netherlands thus deliberately risks a hard clash with the European Commission. He has already threatened legal proceedings and can ultimately impose financial sanctions on the Netherlands and NS.
According to the Commission, the Netherlands should allow more market forces on the main rail network, the most important and most lucrative railway lines on which more than 90 percent of the number of passenger kilometers is covered. Investigate first whether commercial carriers want to provide connections, then put them out to tender. That has been the convention in Europe for years. Rail liberalization improves service to rail passengers, is the Commission’s assumption.
Competitors of NS, including Arriva and Qbuzz, have already filed lawsuits to provide more train connections in the Netherlands. Their trade association, the Federation of Mobility Companies in the Netherlands, announced summary proceedings last week against the private award of the main rail network to NS.
Infringement procedure
NS is under fire because of its poor performance in recent months. A shortage of staff and a high level of absenteeism lead to the cancellation of trains and the scaling down of the timetable.
The award of the main rail network is a multi-billion dollar contract that runs from 2025 to 2034. According to the European Commission, placing this privately with one carrier is in violation of European rules. The Commission can initiate infringement proceedings against an EU country that does not properly apply European law.
According to State Secretary Heijnen, the Netherlands is the first country to launch an infringement procedure in this file. Belgium is also considering privately awarding the operation of the main train connections – including infrastructure management. In the Netherlands this has been placed with ProRail.
Also read: The Netherlands clashes hard with the European Commission about the future of the intercity network
Heijnen is considering carrying out an analysis of the rail market in the Netherlands. This market analysis should clarify which train connections are profitable and which do not have to be awarded per concession. Concessions only apply to unprofitable lines that require subsidy. VVD – and possibly also CDA – are in favor of such a market test; the rest of the Chamber seems opposed.
Around the summer, European Commissioner Adina Valean (Transport) stated in a very critical letter to the Dutch cabinet that such a market analysis is required if a rail contract is concluded again. Valean also called the size of the main rail network too large.
The outcome of a market analysis may have consequences for the intentions of the State Secretary. Such a test can lead to a reduction of the main rail network, tendering of more (regional) rail connections and possibly also a smaller NS.
Heijnen said in the House that the state attorney had previously indicated that such a market analysis was not necessary. But he has since changed his mind; if the Netherlands does carry out a market analysis, the government hopes to vote the Commission in favor and avert an infringement procedure.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management has removed international trains to Paris, London and Frankfurt from the main rail network. Those connections that are also economically interesting – NS now provides them with four international partners – could be put out to tender from 2025. At present, the Belgian railway company NMBS, Deutsche Bahn, Eurostar and Thalys are still obliged to cooperate with NS on Dutch territory.
The House of Representatives also discussed the requirements that the Ministry of Infrastructure should set for NS, or other parties that will run the most important trains from 2025. Rover and other travel organizations believe that the ministry should have more say about ticket prices. According to Heijnen, however, her ministry has insufficient in-house knowledge for this. NS has the experts, according to the State Secretary.
NS has now decided that train passengers who transfer from another carrier must pay a double boarding fare. If you switch from Arriva to Qbuzz, you only pay a boarding fee of one euro once. If you switch to NS, you pay another euro. Heijnen answered questions from MPs time and again that it is very difficult for her to put an end to the double boarding rate. She did, however, promise to investigate this.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of November 3, 2022