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The Dutch government needs to begin investing heavily in the passenger train system again to prevent train travel from becoming unaffordable for many people, said Dutch public transport passenger association Rover. The organization responded to the possibility of raising train tickets and subscriptions by more than 10 percent next year, which national railway NS said would be necessary without intervention.

NS is using new rules for its joint travel discount to prevent abuse. From today, anyone traveling with such a discount will need an online code, which the season ticket holder must create and share with the person traveling with them at a discounted rate. They also have to sit together during the trip, NOS reports.

The Dutch national railway said it will continue to charge the added surcharge when passengers use the Intercity Direct service between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, even if unexpected maintenance means the trip will be delayed by up to 15 minutes. The trip normally takes about 30 minutes, and costs an extra 2.90 euros. "The high-speed train is no longer faster, so why is a surcharge still being charged? It seems more than reasonable to me to eliminate it," said Freek Bos from passenger advocacy organization Rover, in an interview with NOS.

The Intercity Direct between Amsterdam and Rotterdam will run twice an hour instead of the usual four times with immediate effect, NS announced on Thursday. Earlier in the evening, ProRail said that a speed limit had been imposed at several points on the high-speed line between the two cities, such as on some viaducts and bridges, because it is not safe enough to run there at high speed.

Passengers who had to deal with a new bus operator last month have been complaining about delays and cancellations, according to traveler organization Rover. The passenger association believes travelers affected by the problems should be compensated. This mainly concerns parts of the country where a carrier has been replaced with the introduction of a new timetable. For example, in the Zaanstreek region, the Israeli bus company Egged Bus Systems (EBS) took over Connexxion's transportation contract.