State-owned Dutch railway company NS booked an operational loss of €191 million in 2023 and again failed to meet punctuality targets, the company confirmed at the presentation of its annual report on Tuesday. 

In total, just under 90% of passengers reached their destination on time, compared with 91.6% in 2022, and more passengers were forced to stand because there were no seats, NS said.

While things had gone well in spring, in the autumn “travellers were hit by delays, disruption and too-busy trains,” director Wouter Koolmees said. “That needs to improve.” 

The problems were caused by breakdowns and work on the tracks at Schiphol airport and Rotterdam. “Bad weather and a shortage of technicians meant our maintenance companies built up a backlog of work, which led to fewer and shorter trains,” Koolmees said. 

In total, the railway group had to hand over €3.6 million in compensation for delays to passengers because they were forced to take a taxi or pay for an overnight stay. 

NS said earlier this month it planned to increase services by 1,600 a week next year. 

“Stations, both big and small, are being adapted to cope with more passengers,” he said. “At the same time, the basics are not up to scratch in various places. We need to carry out a lot of maintenance on the tracks to make sure our trains can run at the right speed and the proper length.” 

The 2023 loss is less than half the loss booked in 2022, at the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, passenger numbers are still not back at pre-pandemic levels. 

Although the company has not raised ticket prices in line with inflation for the past couple of years, the increase could hit more than 10% next year, the company said. Prices should have risen some 8.7% this year, but the caretaker cabinet stepped in with a €120 million package to soften the blow. 

Domestic ticket prices were frozen but tickets for international train services have gone up by around 8%. NS International sold 15% more international train tickets last year than in 2022.