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Helpful Corona advice from NS

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farci

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In The Netherlands a message from the largest TOC clearly sets out new rules
"..We do everything we can to keep our colleagues healthy and fit and to continue to provide the services as optimally as possible for you as a traveler. That is why we ask you to pay as much as possible with PIN and, if checked by the train staff, to hold your ticket in front of the conductor's scanning device..."
https://www.ns.nl/en/featured/recommended/corona.html
 
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R

RailUK Forums

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I have just been in NL and indeed the message went out on Friday morning to all retailers encouraging customers to make all payments by card and, if nevertheless having to by cash, to avoid touching the hand of the shop worker. I bought a EUR1.50 stamp this way. It seems to me likely that NS will reduce its off-peak frequencies on many routes, the Dutch will doubtless follow the Government advice and stay at home (it was very quiet Thursday and Friday on NS) and they already have a very generous off-peak rail service.
 

MisterT

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So far, off-peak services won't be touched, but during weekdays some additional peak services are being cancelled, due to both less demand and to prevent trains being cancelled due to staffing issues as a result of the virus. Staff is advised to follow the governmental advice and stay home as soon as they develop one of the signs of the virus.
 

DanielB

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As of today, there are limited services at the stations as well. In a mailing, NS announced by e-mail that at each station only one counter will be open in the ticket offices as well as only one store for food and drinks.

In buses the front door remains closed as of yesterday afternoon. Passengers can board at the rear doors and are not allowed to use the seats in front of the front wheels to prevent contamination of the bus driver.
Several bus companies have announced they will run according to either the summer or Christmas holiday timetables as of next week, due to the lower demand. Neighbourhood bus services are mostly cancelled and in some regions night services are cancelled as well.
 

AlexNL

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In a mailing, NS announced by e-mail that at each station only one counter will be open in the ticket offices as well as only one store for food and drinks.
This only seems to apply to the shops which are either outright owned by NS, or operated on their behalf. I just had a wander around Breda station, many of the shops were open as normal - a big majority of 'm is operated by private entrepreneurs though.

The Etos (drug store) and Starbucks shops were closed but all the rest seemed to be open as normal. The station was a ghost town though.
 

AlexNL

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NS have announced today that they will be introducing an emergency timetable this Saturday, which will remain in place until further notice. NS will continue to serve the nation, but service patterns and frequencies will be severely reduced.

The new timetable in a nutshell:
  • Two "sprinter" trains per hour, serving all stations. Routes which currently have 1tph will keep 1tph.
  • Intercity trains will only run on the following routes: Schiphol-Venlo, Arnhem-Den Helder, Maastricht-Eindhoven, Enschede-Utrecht
  • Overnight trains are cancelled
  • International trains may be altered as well, depending on capacity and measures taken abroad
 

AlexNL

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The Dutch government announced today that all preventative measures have been prolonged until 28 April. The public transport operators have subsequently announced that their emergency timetables have been prolonged until 28 April as well. For most of the country this means that trains, trams, buses and metros will run to a Sunday timetable. In the case of NS, it means less trains altogether (see previous message).

Ridership has gone down significantly with many people working from home and students not travelling either. A few days after the emergency timetable started, NS announced that their ridership had fallen to 15% of what they see on an average working day. Other transport operators announced similar results, and it's expected that ridership has only declined further.
 

DanielB

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For most of the country this means that trains, trams, buses and metros will run to a Sunday timetable.
In my observation, a Saturday timetable is more common for weekdays. In the weekends the changes are somewhat more diverse, with some regions having a Sunday timetable on Saturdays, while other regions have buses operating according to the normal Saturday timetable. Regarding the railways it's also worth to mention that Arriva is running hourly services on most of their lines, Qbuzz and Connexxion have only cancelled their peak services and run trains every half hour. Keolis is a bit of an exception as they are the only operator continuing their full timetable including the IC-services between Zwolle and Enschede.

Other transport operators announced similar results, and it's expected that ridership has only declined further.
What I'm observing on my commute to work (can't do my job from home) is a relatively stable usage, at least during "rush hour". Although there's a lot of fluctuation in ridership from day to day.
 

DanielB

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Amersfoort, NL
As of 29 April several trains will be added to the special emergency timetable that NS is operating at the moment. The changes are aimed at shorter journey times for passengers that have to make necessary journeys (for example when they can't work from home) and to provide more capacity so passengers are able to keep enough distance.

Additional services are:
  • At least one Intercity service an hour from almost every station normally served by an IC
  • The Intercity from Vlissingen is no longer running to Breda, but will continue its regular route to Amsterdam as of Roosendaal.
  • The night trains from Utrecht via Amsterdam, Schiphol and The Hague to Rotterdam will start running again
  • High speed trains from Amsterdam to Rotterdam will run every 30 minutes.
Unchanged is the urgent advice to only use the trains for necessary travel and not for recreational travel.
 

Jamesrob637

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The Dutch government announced today that all preventative measures have been prolonged until 28 April. The public transport operators have subsequently announced that their emergency timetables have been prolonged until 28 April as well. For most of the country this means that trains, trams, buses and metros will run to a Sunday timetable. In the case of NS, it means less trains altogether (see previous message).

Ridership has gone down significantly with many people working from home and students not travelling either. A few days after the emergency timetable started, NS announced that their ridership had fallen to 15% of what they see on an average working day. Other transport operators announced similar results, and it's expected that ridership has only declined further.

28th of April is a Tuesday. What's wrong with the 27th of April? Public holiday?
 
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