Finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has summoned senior Dutch Rail officials to explain why a tender to provide public transport services in Limburg went so wrong.

The contract had been awarded to Abellio – a subsidiary of state-owned railway firm NS. However, in late April evidence emerged of ‘serious irregularities’ in the contract process.

In particular, NS officials are said to have passed on confidential information about Veolia – a competitor for the lucrative €2bn contract – to its Abellio and Qbuzz subsidiaries.

Earlier this week, the contract was given to German state-owned Arriva instead.

A report by the Dutch consumer authority ACM, which the NS had tried to have suppressed, was also published earlier this week. In it, the ACM claims senior NS management were aware that NS had abused its position to disadvantage public transport firm Veolia.

According to the Telegraaf, leaked emails show those in the know include NS’s chief executive Timo Huges.