Train operator NS is adding rush-hour trains on its main routes in what it calls the biggest shake-up of the timetable in years, while continuing to face problems on its high-speed line.

Services from Amsterdam Centraal to Weesp, Almere and Alkmaar will run every 15 minutes, as will trains between Utrecht and Woerden.

NS will also run eight Sprinter trains an hour on the line from Amsterdam to Schiphol Airport and Hoofddorp, to offset the restrictions caused by renovation works at Amsterdam Centraal.

Extra Intercity services are also being laid on from Groningen to Amsterdam in the morning and from Amsterdam to Almere late at night. The new timetable will take effect from Sunday, December 15.

Journey times between Amsterdam and Brussels are being cut by 45 minutes with the introduction of a EuroCity Direct service, as well as the EuroCity trains between Brussels and Rotterdam.

Altogether an extra 1,600 services will be added to the weekly timetable from Sunday, NS president Wouter Koolmees said.

HSL limit raised

NS still faces major problems on the high-speed line, where speeds had to be cut to 80 km/h on some sections earlier this year after cracks were discovered in five viaducts along the route.

The number of trains on the route between Breda and Amsterdam was cut from five an hour to four in February. Track operator ProRail has raised the maximum speed on the vulnerable sections to 120 km/h from this week, still well below the line’s capacity of 300 km/h.

NS was rated one of the worst performers in Europe in a survey of 27 companies by the NGO Transport and Environment earlier this week.

Dutch rail passengers paid some of the highest ticket prices, exceeded only by Eurostar and British trains, while reporting some of the lowest levels of customer satisfaction.

NS also scored poorly on special fares and discounts, but was one of the best performers for reliability, compensation for passengers and cycling policy.