Public transport strike Tuesday 28 May 2019

Last update: Tuesday 28 May 09:50 AM

On Tuesday 28 May 2019 there is a national strike in the public transport the Netherlands, all day long. From the start of the service, early in the morning, until the end of the day, no NS trains will be running throughout the Netherlands. At the moment, it is unclear whether international and regional trains will run. Public transport in all major cities and regional transport in most parts of the Netherlands are expected to strike as well. The reason for the strike is a national action on the retirement age.

Since a large part of public transport in the Netherlands probably will not run on Tuesday, it will be almost impossible to make a trip by train or by other means of public transport. The advice is therefore not to travel on Tuesday, or to arrange alternative transport in good time (e.g., by taxi, rental car, etc.)

Update for Schiphol Airport: On Sunday afternoon, a court ordered that the activists are obliged to run trains between Amsterdam Central Station and Schiphol Airport, in order to avoid chaotic scenes at Schiphol. An emergency shuttle train will run 4 times per hour between Amsterdam Central and Schiphol Airport. Other trains to/from Schiphol will not run.

The journey planner is updated with the situation on Tuesday.

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Which trains will not run?

At least these trains won't run:

  • All NS routes, except Amsterdam Central-Schiphol Airport
  • Arriva trains in almost all parts of the Netherlands (Achterhoek, Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, Overijssel and Limburg)
  • SNCB train Roosendaal-Essen (from Essen the local train to Antwerp runs normally)
  • SNCB train Maastricht-Visé (from Visé the local train to Liège runs normally)
  • R-NET Gouda-Alphen a/d Rijn

Trains which will run

The following trains will run on Tuesday:

  • NS between Amsterdam Central Station, Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Schiphol Airport
  • Abellio RE19 between Arnhem and Düsseldorf
  • Breng
  • Connexxion

Lines with a partial service

A partial service will be run on the following lines. Some trains will be cancelled, check the departure times on Tuesday to check the latest information.

  • A part of the trains on the line Zutphen-Hengelo-Oldenzaal will run (and a part will be cancelled); see below for more information
  • Zwolle - Kampen (Keolis)
  • Zwolle - Enschede (Keolis)

International trains

The situation for international trains is not completely clear at this moment.

  • ICE International and IC Berlin: these trains only run on the German part of their route, and terminate at the last station before the border (Bad Bentheim for IC Berlin, Emmerich for ICE International)
  • IC Brussels: only runs on the Belgian part (Antwerp - Brussels)
  • Thalys Amsterdam - Paris: does not run
  • RE 19 Arnhem - Düsseldorf: runs

You can exchange or cancel your ticket free of charge (until 3 June) at the point of sale.

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Cancelled services for Keolis/Blauwnet (Zutphen - Hengelo - Oldenzaal and Hengelo - Oldenzaal - Bad Bentheim)

A part of the services between Zutphen, Hengelo en Oldenzaal and between Hengelo - Oldenzaal - Bad Bentheim will be cancelled. The cancelled services are listed below. The other trains will run, but check the journey planner or live departure times to be sure.

Cancelled services for Zutphen Hengelo Oldenzaal:

  • 06.08u departure from Zutphen to Oldenzaal
  • 07.02u departure from Oldenzaal to Zutphen
  • 08.36u departure from Zutphen to Oldenzaal
  • 09.32u departure from Oldenzaal to Zutphen
  • 10.36u departure from Zutphen to Oldenzaal
  • 11.32u departure from Oldenzaal to Zutphen

Cancelled services for Hengelo Oldenzaal Bad Bentheim:

  • 16.34u departure from Hengelo to Bad Bentheim
  • 17.09u departure from Bad Bentheim to Hengelo
  • 17.34u departure from Hengelo to Bad Bentheim
  • 18.09u departure from Bad Bentheim to Hengelo
  • 20.34u departure from Hengelo to Bad Bentheim
  • 21.09u departure from Bad Bentheim to Hengelo
  • 21.34u departure from Hengelo to Bad Bentheim
  • 22.09u departure from Bad Bentheim to Hengelo
  • 22.34u departure from Hengelo to Bad Bentheim

As soon as new information is available, this page will be updated as soon as possible.

Is there a replacement bus service for the train?

There is no replacement transport during the strike itself. The official advice is to arrange alternative transport yourself, for example by going by car or using a taxi. Please note: the (additional) costs for a taxi or other alternative transport will not be reimbursed.

Can I get compensation?

You can claim a compensation based on your passenger rights if you have already bought a ticket or when you have a monthly pass. With a ticket you will probably get 100% of the costs back, and with a monthly pass, you will get a percentage of the periodic costs.

Do you have to incur extra costs due to alternative transport or do you suffer damage as a result of the strike? Then unfortunately, the chance of successfully claiming compensation for these extra costs is very small. You are not entitled to compensation for this, this is excluded by law.

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How to stay informed

To be information, check regularly the current departure times or use the journey planner. During your journey, you're always up to date with the NL Train Navigator app.

You may also follow these Twitter accounts:

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