It ends somewhere for the NS, the carrier skips train stations

They had the very last train. That meant leaving an hour earlier than usual. Now they kill time by playing cards on a bench in front of Bijlmer Arena station, Wim van Dop (69) and his grandson Daniel. Actually ‘ridiculous’, says Van Dop, that the NS is skipping the train station this afternoon.

Something remarkable is happening on Saturday afternoon: for Formula 1 fans, a train shuttles every five minutes from Amsterdam to Zandvoort. At the same time, trains pass by without even slowing down tens of thousands of sports and concert fans. The NS will skip no fewer than four stations on Saturday between 2.15 pm and 8.30 pm. It concerns Bijlmer Arena, Holendrecht and part of Duivendrecht station. In Haarlem, Overveen station is closed. This can lead to major problems, especially around Bijlmer Arena station. That station is located right next to an event site, which attracts more than seventy thousand visitors this Saturday.

For Ajax fans and visitors to concert halls such as the Ziggodome, their own transport is available, or the much smaller metros of the Amsterdam transport company GVB. It’s weird, fans think. “The NS is there to transport people,” says Van Dop, “And people now want to take the train. There needs to be more consultation to prevent these kinds of things.” Saturday afternoon it is still pleasant, but in the evening it will be “a mess”, he expects.

In Bijlmer Arena station, there are large fences on Saturday afternoon to keep people away from the train platforms. The signs that normally show train information are empty. Every few minutes a large mob of white-red Ajax fans descend the escalators of the metro platform. Bart Duim (43) is also walking along with his 6-year-old son. He found that no trains were running “in itself, of course, remarkable”. But he can understand that it became too much for the NS during the Formula 1 weekend. “You can’t also put an organization that receives more than a hundred thousand visitors a day with a train problem.” Friends Saskia Vermij (44) and Maaike van Kalkeren (45), who had to come from Almere, find it “a pity” and “badly arranged”. “You force people to get into the car, and we want to get rid of that in the Netherlands.”

Drastic measure

The Netherlands is an event country, and this weekend is a highlight. There are massive events throughout the country, such as the World Port Days, the orange party X-Qlusive Holland in Gelredome, and the Airborne Walking Tour near Arnhem, which attracts more than 30,000 walkers. Then ProRail is also working on the railway in Limburg. And there is the structural shortage of drivers and security guards.

People cram themselves into the train, regardless of whether there is room. You don’t want to push and pull on a platform where trains are running

Carola Belderbos spokesperson NS

On Saturday it became clear that with all those events it ends somewhere for the NS. The rail service took a drastic measure by skipping several train stations. Many people are bothered by that decision: about fifty thousand people come to watch Ajax against SC Cambuur. On Saturday evening, rock band Kensington plays for about 16,000 people in the Ziggo Dome at the station and in the AFAS singer Yade Lauren represents six thousand people. The director of Ziggo Dome complained to various media this week that it is “ridiculous” and “very annoying” that the NS “decides all this so unilaterally”. The GVB is trying to cope with the extra flow of people with three extra metros and 45 extra security personnel.

An event organization further north in North Holland also ran up against the limits of public transport. Some of the people who bought tickets for Elrow Festival at a site near Alkmaar were told that their card was still invalid. “Due to the Grand Prix in Zandvoort in combination with the current train disruptions, the local authorities have forced us to disappoint the last ticket buyers,” according to the organization. Bewildered cardholders, some of whom live around the corner from the festival, complained to NH Nieuws. “I would go by bike and I don’t understand the problem.”

Twelve trains an hour

Meanwhile, the contrast is great with the large-scale organization for Formula 1 fans. Where there are normally a few trains per hour in Zandvoort, there are now no fewer than twelve. Every five minutes a train leaves for the seaside resort. An additional 300 personnel has been deployed to transport about ten thousand Formula 1 fans per hour. For the racing events (and sunny beach days) the station and the track have been renovated for seven million in recent years. The platform and stairs of the station were widened, the power supply was addressed and special event platforms were installed to accommodate more visitors at the same time.

Why is it possible there and not elsewhere?

“Of course, the audience is not more important to Zandvoort than Ajax fans,” says Carola Belderbos, spokesperson for the NS. ‘Zandvoort’, says Belderbos, has been planned for a long time and the NS has been able to prepare well. It was precisely in the preparation that it was lacking at other events. “It is important that people who organize an event also check: will it all work out with transport?”

At the beginning of July, the NS sat down with Ajax, says Belderbos. The race ends just after six, just like many Formula 1 travelers want to go home. That is too much at once for the NS. „We have asked Ajax to move the match to earlier in the afternoon, or else in Leeuwarden. Then we could have brought everyone.” None of that was possible. “We said: if it can’t be done safely, then we won’t do it.” According to Belderbos, it is “also a big disappointment for the NS itself”.

Organizers must also think for a permit themselves and write a transport plan

Why does the NS not want too many travelers at the same time? It is mainly a safety issue, says Belderbos. “Football fans who come from a game want to go home. People cram themselves into the train, regardless of whether there is room. You don’t want to push and pull on a platform where trains are running.”

What plays a role for the NS, says Belderbos, is the specter of a Friday evening in mid-July. Concerts by two major crowd pullers – Toto and Ed Sheeran – at Bijlmer Arena station ended at the same time. “That has led to very unsafe situations,” says Belderbos.

The 15th of July more than 80,000 extra people came to the area. Due to the expected crowds, visitors were warned in advance that parking lots would be overcrowded. As a result, the trains became so crowded again that in the evening a huge crowd of people stood in front of the station. People complained on Twitter that it took an hour and a half to reach the doors of the station at all. They called the crowd pushing unsafe and frightening. An evaluation published Friday showed that several people had become unwell. Afterwards it turned out that there was still plenty of space to park.

Extra trains not possible

In addition to the problem this weekend at Bijlmer Arena, the organizers of the Elrow Town festival, near Alkmaar, were told by the NS that it would not be possible to deploy extra trains for their festival. “We told Elrow early on: we won’t succeed,” says Belderbos.

In itself, the NS wants to be cooperative at events, says Belderbos. Organizers must also think for a permit themselves and write a transport plan. “We have a lot of conversations with organizations in advance. We want to use trains where the most passengers are, so we are constantly adjusting the timetable. It’s been going well for a long time, this weekend it’s not going so well.”