People want to be able to travel quickly, safely, conveniently and at any time. NS is helping to make that possible. We provide a broad range of services that go beyond just the train. Our activities are always centred on our passengers. We work to provide them with comfortable, easily accessible and efficient journeys from door to door, based on timely and up-to-date information.
Every day, our more than 39,000 colleagues (36,700 FTEs at the end of 2019) in the Netherlands and abroad work hard to achieve this. Together with our public transport partners, we work continuously on perfecting our services and our performance on the tracks, to provide world-class stations, optimise the customer experience and improve our own organisation. We provide passenger transport and are concerned with station development and operation. These activities yield a total turnover of €6.7 billion, of which 92% from passenger transport.
NS in the Netherlands and Europe
Ever since NS was founded – in 1837 as HIJSM – we have been contributing to mobility and progress in the Netherlands, and the company still plays a very significant social role in the domestic market. Since 2002, NS subsidiary Abellio has been providing rail transport in parts of the United Kingdom and since 2009 in Germany, as well as bus services in London. We also provide international connections with Thalys, Eurostar, ICE, IC Brussels and IC Berlin.
Our organisation
NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen is at the head of a group that includes NS Operatie (approximately 13,800 staff, on average, in 2019), Commercie & Ontwikkeling (approx. 700), NS Stations (approx. 3,300 including retail), Abellio UK (approx. 12,900), Abellio Germany (approx. 2,400) plus shared services such as HR, Finance and IT.
NS Operatie is responsible for rail transport on the Dutch main rail network, including HSL South. This is where the colleagues work who help our trains travel from A to B in the Netherlands and indeed beyond the borders. They include train drivers, guards, mechanics and service staff, as well as the colleagues who, behind the screens, help implement our timetables and manage operations during unexpected events.
Commerce and Development is a unit where colleagues design new timetables, think up train formulas, run the customer services department, provide stakeholder management, launch marketing campaigns and carry out strategic innovative projects. In addition, Commerce conducts satisfaction surveys among passengers and identifies areas for improvement.
NS Stations works on a high-quality network of 401 large and smaller stations and promotes area development initiatives around the stations. Together with ProRail, the public authorities and all the carriers, NS Stations aims to make passenger journeys and the time spent in and around stations as pleasant and comfortable as possible. Stations are developing into hubs for various forms of mobility, including functions such as public transport bicycles and bicycle parking. In recent years, NS Stations has worked with ProRail and various municipalities to renovate major stations, with a focus on the need to ensure that stations are ‘clean, intact and safe’. All activities – shops, services, facilities and transfer aspects – are designed to improve the passenger experience of the station and the journey.
Abellio UK bids for and operates rail franchises in the United Kingdom (Greater Anglia, Merseyrail, ScotRail, West Midlands, East Midlands) and operates bus franchises in London. Our 16,300 colleagues in the United Kingdom together transport 840,000 passengers a day.
Abellio Germany acquires and operates rail franchises only. In 2019, it operated nine franchises in four regions. Abellio Germany transports around 256,000 passengers a day, with a staff of around 2,700. It started operating the S-Bahn-Rhein-Ruhr and Ruhr-Sieg-Netz 2 franchises in December 2019, and the Stuttgarter Netz in June 2019.
Organisation chart
Rail franchises in Europe
Click on a concession for a detailed map.