The station experience 

Railway stations are an important link in a passenger’s journey from door to door: As much as 25% of the overall score for the door-to-door journey is determined by the score for the station. Hence, it is important for NS to ensure that passengers experience the station as a pleasant environment. In 2024, the average passenger score for our stations was 7.2 (2023: 7.2). For the 55 large stations (more than 10,000 passengers boarding and disembarking per working day), the score in 2024 remained 7.3, the same as in 2023. This was despite the major renovations at Amsterdam Central and their impact on the passenger experience. Amsterdam Central is one of the largest stations in the Netherlands and largely determines the overall score for customer experience at the large stations. The smaller stations (fewer than 10,000 boarding and disembarking passengers) collectively achieved a score of 7.0 (2023: 7.0). 

Station facilities and services 

We are continuing to invest in facilities and services at stations, such as toilets, shared car areas and luggage lockers. 

  • The shared car service has been added at 18 P+R locations.

  • We installed luggage lockers at Amsterdam Sloterdijk station. These are lockers from another station and from storage.

  • New unstaffed toilets have been installed at Ede-Wageningen, Hilversum Sportpark, Venlo and Zwolle stations. 

Tenants at the stations 

Thanks to increases in passenger numbers and the continued development of new and existing concepts, tenants at the station saw their retail sales continue to grow in 2024. A total of 40 contracts were renewed or newly concluded. In many cases, this involved new shops or reinvestment in existing shops. Several tenants also renovated their shops and further developed concepts, including Etos, Julia's, HEMA and Bruna. 

Social and local engagement 

NS Stations and ProRail both invest in social initiatives at the stations. There are currently several dozen such initiatives across the Netherlands. A selection of these can be found on the website www.oponsstation.nl. 

In 2024, new initiatives were launched at stations including Eindhoven, Dordrecht, Leeuwarden and Helmond. A Greylight Projects studio opened in Heerlen's main concourse in April. This platform is committed to helping artists who need studio space to work and exhibit.

The Station Living Rooms also focus on social and local engagement. In 2024, Station Living Room entered into a collaboration with the foundation Stichting Met je Hart, which works to combat loneliness among the elderly. The Station Living Rooms sold apple pies with a percentage of the proceeds going to the foundation. Together with Stichting Met je Hart, we organised a morning of games and music for the elderly in seven Station Living Rooms.

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