Arriva has wanted this for years, but has always received no response. At the beginning of September, an administrative judge only made short work of an earlier decision by the cabinet: Aartsen then had to immediately resume negotiations with Arriva to take over the sprinters. The State Secretary was given until December 8 to do so.
But that time is too short, says the State Secretary. The discussions are still ongoing, and Aartsen is also consulting with the provinces involved, ProRail, NS and travelers association Rover. Those conversations continue.
In addition, Arriva will be allowed to operate express trains between Groningen and Zwolle next year at its own expense. The Beilen and Haren stations are then skipped. It is not yet known when the first express train will run, but Aartsen says he is following the experiences with the new service ‘with great interest’.
“I see it as a great opportunity to see how open access services on the railways work in practice,” he wrote to the House of Representatives. Aartsen hopes to provide more clarity at a later date.
Carrier Arriva says it is not happy with the delay. “We are disappointed with the course of events,” a spokesperson said. He emphasizes that he does not support the words of the State Secretary, which imply that Aartsen and Arriva have jointly decided that they need more time.
“As far as we are concerned, further postponement is unnecessary,” says Arriva. Arriva’s previous offer from 2023 is still current: it states, among other things, that Arriva can run local trains faster and the carrier wants more stations between Groningen and Zwolle. Arriva says it is ready to take over NS’s sprinter services as quickly as possible.
“Our offer is not that we will take a look in 2029, when there will be a so-called mid-term review (an interim evaluation of the current NS concession, ed.). In our opinion, that will take too long. We want to start as soon as possible,” the spokesperson concludes.