 | |
 Railway tracks in the Netherlands | |
_-_Driebruggen-Hekendorp_(20607897939).jpg) Double decker (DDZ) train near Gouda, South Holland | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Netherlands |
| Dates of operation | 1938–present |
| Predecessor | Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Other | |
| Website | www |
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch: [ˈneːdərlɑntsə ˈspoːrˌʋeːɣə(n)] ; English: "Dutch Railways"; NS) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is the busiest in the European Union, and the third busiest in the world after Switzerland and Japan.[1]
The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operator NS Cargo merged with DB Cargo in 2000. NS runs 4,800 scheduled domestic trains a day, serving 1.1 million passengers.[2] The NS also provides international rail services from the Netherlands to other European destinations and carries out concessions on some foreign rail markets through its subsidiary Abellio.
- ^ International Union of Railways Annual Report, 2015.
- ^ "Annual report 2010". Nederlandse Spoorwegen. 1 January 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.