![]() ![]() The state no longer considered competitive passenger service to be viable, and began granting concessions with the goal of one concession per line. Karel Noordzij became CEO in 2002 and reversed many of the reforms to restore confidence in the company. The entire board of directors resigned in late-2001.Īnother change in strategy followed. Performance deteriorated after the reforms, and the company suffered multiple unorganized strikes. Internally, route managers assumed de facto control, but they were dependent on a different organ in the company The freight business, NS Cargo, merged with Deutsche Bahn the resulting company operated as Railion in 2000 and then as DB Cargo. Passenger transport was to be conducted on a commercial basis, but the state continued to subsidize non-viable routes. Plans to split the remainder of NS met with limited success due to trade union opposition the new companies created were NS Reizigers, locomotive maintenance company NedTrain. NS' infrastructure division was split off into NS Railinfratrust. The changes were carried out by Rob den Besten, who became chief executive officer of NS after the retirement of Leo Ploeger. Although the state called the process " corporatization" ( verzelfstandiging), it really only meant the withdrawal of subsidies. NS was reorganized following the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and the 1991 EU Directive 91/440 the latter required railway infrastructure and transport activities to be managed independently. Protests against neoliberal policies in 1983 The company was deemed nationally important and received state subsidies. NS' response, the Spoorslag '70 plan which increased service and introduced intercity service, failed to restore profitability. In addition, national coal distribution from Limburg became less profitable the discovery of a gas field near Slochteren led to coal losing market share to natural gas in power plants and homes. There was increased competition from other modes of transport. The company declined in the 1960s - like many other railways - and operated at a loss. NS played a pivotal role in the post-war reconstruction of the Netherlands only it could provide the required logistical services in a time when there was little alternative to rail transport. The company's only wartime strike was during the Dutch famine of 1944–45 NS opted not to strike a year earlier. 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.ĭuring World War II, NS was forced by the Germans to construct railways to Westerbork transit camp and transport almost a hundred thousand Jews to extermination camps. NS runs 4,800 scheduled domestic trains a day, serving 1.1 million passengers. Freight services, formerly operated by NS Cargo, merged with DB Schenker in 2000. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and the third busiest in the world after Switzerland and Japan. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS Dutch: ( listen) English: "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS)ġ,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1⁄ 2 in) standard gauge Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) Double decker ( DDZ) train near Gouda, South Holland ![]()
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