NETHERLANDS: The Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management and national incumbent operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen have signed a public service operating contract covering the designated core passenger rail network, ahead of the EU deadline for direct awards.
The Hoofdrailnet concession agreement runs from January 1 2025 to December 24 2033, and sets out the routes NS will operate, the standards it must meet and the financial arrangements.
‘It is essential that travellers can count on reliable and good rail services’, said State Secretary for Infrastructure & Water Management Vivianne Heijnen. ‘I will ensure that with this new concession.’
NS CEO Wouter Koolmees said train services are important to society and need to be organised for the long term.
Transitional situation
Noting that passenger numbers have not yet reached the pre-pandemic level of 2019, costs have increased and inflation is high, Heijnen said the new concession ’is in line with the transitional situation we are in, but at the same time offers room to expand services in the long term’.
The final agreement has a number of changes from a provisional concession sent to the House of Representatives in August.
The current timetable will be a starting point, as a proposed expansion of services at night was deemed not to be financially feasible.
NS has withdrawn a proposal for fare changes. It may propose a new tariff system, but implementation would require the approval of the House of Representatives, which has indicated that it is opposed to introducing peak fares.
The concession can be adjusted during a mid-term review in 2029.
Heijnen said ‘in the future, market forces can be an instrument for some routes to offer the traveller an optimal journey’, and she would ‘continue to talk to various carriers to further investigate a number of options’. The routes from Groningen and Leeuwarden and Zwolle are ‘a concrete case where market forces could offer benefits’.
On international routes, ’competition between different rail companies is becoming the rule, because this benefits travellers’.
Competition concerns
The concession was signed on December 21, shortly before the December 25 expiry of EU rules permitting the direct award of rail contracts. Operating contracts should now be competitively tendered, with direct awards used only in limited circumstances.
In July 2023 the European Commission started infringement proceedings against the Netherlands, saying the one-year period between signing and entry into force is too long and circumvents the principle of competitive awards.
The ministry said the one-year period was justified because NS would be more accountable under the new concession and it will take time to set up the required systems. The infringement procedure does not have a suspensive effect, and the award proceeded as planned with European Commission being given a written explanation.
The direct award was also opposed by the FMN association of transport companies which includes Arriva, Transdev, Qbuzz, Keolis and EBS.
The AllRail association of new entrants to the rail market criticised direct awards made ‘just days before the new regulations took effect, effectively freezing the market for the next decade’, saying it was ‘a missed opportunity’ for further market opening which it believes could more attractive offers and better value.
