The Dutch government is taking significant strides towards liberalizing the railway sector. In a new concession agreement, the Netherlands Railways (NS) will no longer hold exclusive rights to

international routes such as London, Paris, and Berlin. This development follows negotiations between NS and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management regarding the primary rail concession, which grants permission for most track usage, according to insiders cited by the Volkskrant.

While NS is granted most of its requests in the new concession, the exception lies in the international rail domain. Presently, NS is the sole operator permitted to offer train services from the Netherlands to London, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, and Berlin. However, as of 2025, NS will lose its exclusive status for all these routes except Brussels.

This change is met with enthusiasm by other transportation companies. Arriva and Qbuzz have already submitted applications to operate trains to destinations like Paris and Berlin.

Perhaps the most debated decision within the new contract is the allowance for implementing a rush-hour surcharge. NS has championed this idea for years. NS CEO Wouter Koolmees reiterated last month the necessity to substantially raise rush-hour ticket prices while reducing fares during off-peak hours.

Koolmees emphasized the overcapacity during morning rush hours, which occasionally surpasses 100%. He stated in a Volkskrant interview in July, "All the seats are occupied, and people have to stand. It’s packed. But over the whole day, the occupancy is less than 30 percent. So we transport warm air for large parts of the day."

The specific conditions of the rush-hour charge are yet to be outlined in the concession.

Additionally, the Cabinet has included two other measures to bolster the rail company's revenue. Firstly, NS is permitted to increase ticket prices by an additional 7% on top of the annual increment based on projected inflation.

Secondly, the concession fee currently paid by NS will be converted into a subsidy. NS has been annually paying 80 million euros for the concession, which holds a turnover value of approximately 2 billion euros. Starting from 2025, NS will no longer pay a fee but instead receive an annual subsidy of 13 million euros.

NS's need for extra income is evident, considering its operational losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily due to passenger numbers failing to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.

The new concession agreement is slated to cover the period from 2025 to 2033. State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen of Public Transport has pledged to present the concession to the parliament by the end of this month. The debate in the parliament, expected in late September, is likely to focus on the rush-hour charge. Public sentiment against it is strong, and previous proposals for such a charge were rejected by the parliament in 2010 and 2017, according to the newspaper.

The allocation of the concession to NS by the Dutch Cabinet is not without controversy. Competing rail companies have lodged lawsuits challenging the award, accusing the government of violating European Union competition regulations. The European Commission is aligned with this view and has initiated legal proceedings against the Netherlands. Photo by Hypergio, Wikimedia commons.