Our strategy
Together, we are making the Netherlands accessible in a sustainable manner – for everyone. That is our mission, a mission that will serve as the compass for our strategy in the coming years.
With our trains and stations serving as the backbone of the public transport system, we aim to ensure a smooth and comfortable door-to-door journey for our passengers. In doing so, we help enable them to move sustainably, and participate, in society.
A wealth of opportunities
In the coming years, we see a wealth of opportunities to realise our mission. Sustainable travel has become an absolute necessity for many passengers, employers and society, due in part to the need to combat climate change. The train enables you to travel anywhere without emitting large amounts of harmful substances and taking up scarce space in already crowded cities. Even if all cars go electric, the train will still be one of the most sustainable and space-efficient modes of transport for both short and medium distances (both domestic and international up to 700 kilometres).
We are also seeing a rise in the number of different sustainable shared modes of transport on offer. The train combined with shared mobility services offers many options to get passengers from door to door sustainably. Particularly when building near existing infrastructure to address the housing shortage. Finally, there are a number of technological developments that can help us improve operational processes and the customer experience, such as the adoption of AI or sensor technology.
Major challenges
However, we also face challenges that make it harder to achieve our mission.
Changing passenger patterns
We are still seeing the effects of an unprecedented drop in passenger numbers during the COVID-19 crisis, with the emergence of new travel patterns since the pandemic. Passenger numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays have fallen from previous levels, for example, while rush hour is relatively much busier on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This makes the challenge of optimising use of rail capacity all the greater. A challenge that is made even bigger by the many planned works needed to maintain or upgrade the railways. This situation is set to intensify in the coming years. We also saw an increase in the number of infrastructure failures and speed limits. As a result, we are sometimes unable to run on certain routes, and sometimes not as fast or as frequently as we would like for passengers. This is certainly true of the HSL, where construction defects have been identified that have not yet been resolved. At the same time, the government is under considerable budgetary pressure, while the task of upgrading and maintaining the railways requires greater investment.
Tight labour market
Attracting new staff in a persistently tight labour market remains a challenge. This applies to train drivers and main guards, but especially to Safety & Service employees and technicians. The demand for technically skilled staff is high in a number of sectors.
Another major and serious concern is that our staff and passengers are experiencing more socially unsafe situations on trains and in stations, such as incidents and aggression. Finally, our financial position is under pressure: we have been making losses on the main rail network in recent years. Our costs have gone up in recent years (partly due to high inflation and rising wages). Due to low passenger numbers, revenues are lower than originally budgeted. These developments make it harder for us to deliver a high-quality product at an affordable price.
Combined effect
The combined effect of these challenges put pressure on our performance: we were not always able to guarantee good seat availability or provide the punctuality we aim for in 2024. We are doing everything we can to address these challenges by focusing on flexibility and continuously improving our organisation, as well as making the right long-term strategic choices.
A relevant and strong NS
We recalibrated our strategy in 2024, working towards a fundamentally relevant and strong NS and meeting the challenges we face. We do so with reliable services and an attractive and affordable offering. We aim to offer a premium product with a higher capacity utilisation rate and at lower average costs, with a society that values NS. We believe this puts NS in the best position to succeed and contribute to the Netherlands in any future scenario.
Our services
We are committed to providing our passengers with reliable services that meet their various needs. For us, that means ensuring a pleasant and predictable door-to-door journey throughout the Netherlands. A punctual train service is essential, which is why our primary focus is on robust operations. Passengers get a good service, experience a socially safe, clean and accessible environment and receive clear travel information. When the train service is disrupted, we respond quickly and appropriately with the right travel information, clear communication and clear action.
Passengers can count on us on the train and at the station, as we perform our core task reliably with proud and vital colleagues, keeping an eye on costs and better every day. We aim to use technology and other resources to support our colleagues and guarantee attractive work with a realistic workload.
Passenger offering
By offering an attractive and relatively affordable range of products, we aim to be a competitive alternative to the car. We are working on appropriate types of season tickets and a wide range of shared transport in the app and at stations. Examples include the public transport bicycle and public transport e-bike, plus a dynamic discount with Price-Time Deals designed to attract more passengers and encourage them to travel at times spread throughout the day and the week. Spreading passengers helps to make better use of rail capacity and, ultimately, reduce costs. An attractive, competitive offer and attracting new passengers on routes and at times of the day where there is space contributes to a financially healthy organisation.
Contributions to society
We want to visibly contribute to a liveable world, equal opportunities and encouraging encounters. This is something we are actively committed to, as a way of creating social value for the Netherlands. First, by keeping the Netherlands sustainably accessible through a nationwide rail network. From 2025, we will measure our contribution to a sustainable future even more explicitly with a new KPI. We will do this by monitoring the amount of CO2 emissions avoided by passengers taking the train instead of the car. We are also committed to zero-emission, circular and green operations. NS aspires to achieve full circularity in 2030 in terms of procurement, maximum reuse of materials and zero waste in offices and workshops and from trains. Together with parties such as ProRail and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, we are working on a joint ambition known as Zero-waste Station 2040. In our operational processes, we save as much energy as possible and use our land and buildings for sustainable energy generation. As a high-volume consumer of electricity and due to the pressure on the grid, we think it is important to focus on a sound approach to energy use.
Our impact extends much further than the climate. We aspire to be a good corporate citizen of and for the Netherlands as a whole: a business that reflects all parts of society, where everybody feels at home and nobody is excluded.
Future outlook
We believe this strategy will enable us, now and in the future, to deliver on our mission: together, we are making the Netherlands accessible in a sustainable manner – for everyone. With this mission and focus, we continue to serve the public interest; precisely because of the housing challenge and increasing congestion in cities, NS aims to play a key role in providing sustainable access to residential and business locations in both the Randstad conurbation and the region.