Rail travellers can expect a “tough” autumn due to the shortage of trains and speed limits on stretches of track that need maintenance, NS chief Wouter Koolmees said on Tuesday.

“The reality is that our problems cannot be solved like that and I don’t know when they will be solved,” Koolmees told news agency ANP.

Although the problems are piling up throughout the network, the situation on the high speed train link is particularly fraught, he said.

Trains have now been reduced to 80kph on some stretches of track because the viaducts the trains move along are unsafe. Those problems are likely to remain until 2026, NS and rail operator ProRail said on Tuesday.

The state-owned railway company said earlier this month it is planning to put up the price of tickets by 8.7% plus inflation next year and to cut some 500 jobs.
The company, which is 100% owned by the state, is loss-making and says the moves are necessary to restore profitability.

This year a government cash injection of €120 million staved off the threatened price hike. But so far there is no such extra help for next year, which means the 8.7% rise plus inflation will go ahead.