Passengers at Breda station had to endure a lot of train suffering in the past six months. Research by RTL Nieuws showed that thousands of trains arrived more than five minutes late or did not arrive at all. Of all stations in the Netherlands, Breda would score the worst, but according to the Dutch Railways (NS) that is not correct. Incorrect data was used for the study.
According to NS spokesman Arno Leblanc, the data from rijdetreinen.nl, which was used for the investigation, is ‘not very suitable’ for drawing conclusions. “They use information that we publish ourselves.”
“There is a difference between what we publish and what really happens on the track.”
The NS prefers to warn train passengers in advance of disruptions, but these can be less than expected or may not be noticed at all by passengers. “There is a difference between what we publish and what actually happens on the track. If it is not too bad, the disruption will still be online,” explains Leblanc.
Also, punctuality and failure should not be lumped together. As an example, Leblanc gives a disruption between The Hague and Eindhoven. “Three trains pass Breda, but if there is a disruption at Tilburg, that train will return under a different number and there need not be much to worry about for the passenger at Breda.”
“Especially the intercity from Brussels causes a lot of delay.”
The NS recognizes that Breda scores worse in terms of punctuality. “This is mainly due to the intercity from Brussels that arrives with a delay.” Leblanc says they have no influence on what happens on the foreign track. “Furthermore, the high-speed line is also a connection where more delays occur.”
According to its own figures, the NS drove on time in 93.3 percent of the cases in the past six months. That is half a percent less than before. “This is partly due to the staff shortage.” It is difficult for both ProRail and NS to obtain train traffic controllers, drivers and conductors.
“Breda does not score the worst.”
Although Breda scores worse than many other train stations in terms of delays, it is not as disastrous as the research by RTL Nieuws suggests, according to NS spokesman Leblanc. “Breda doesn’t score the worst in terms of delays, but every delay is still annoying.”
Over the past six months, a train stopped at Breda station more than 53,000 times, of which 4,698 were five or more minutes late (8.8 percent). 4,288 times (8 percent) the train failed, as a result of which it never arrived in Breda at all, according to RTL Nieuws.
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