History Nederlandse Spoorwegen

1 history

1.1 founding
1.2 ns state enterprise
1.3 reforms of 1990s
1.4 symmetry minute
1.5 controversies

history

founding

former ns headquarters, utrecht

the ns founded in 1938 when 2 largest dutch railway companies, hollandsche ijzeren spoorweg-maatschappij (hsm) , maatschappij tot exploitatie van staatsspoorwegen (ss), formally merged. these 2 companies had been intensively cooperating 1917. there both economic , ideological reasons cooperation.

as result of first world war, dutch economy had declined causing hsm , ss fall profitability. given national importance, allowing them slip bankruptcy not considered acceptable. while remaining independent companies, hsm , ss improved overall efficiency cooperatively integrating operations. dutch government further supported hsm , ss purchasing shares in both firms. in 1938, government merged 2 companies form nederlandse spoorwegen (ns). in process, government bought remaining shares, yet never nationalized company. therefore, ns remained, , still is, private company solely owned dutch government..

ns state enterprise

during second world war ns remained independent company, forced germans bidding; ns forced construct railway lines camp westerbork , in deportation of hundred thousand jews extermination camps. ns went on strike once during war, in winter of 1944-45, after had declined participate in 1 year earlier.

the ns played pivotal role in reconstruction of country. there little alternative transport in country besides train, while there huge demand logistical services ns provide.

while 1950s time company, started decline in 1960s, other railways around world. not did ns suffer competition of car , other modes of transport, suffered loss of income when natural gas started replace coal main fuel in power stations , homes after gas field found near slochteren. ns had been involved in transport of coal mines in limburg remainder of country.

the ns responded aggressive strategy named spoorslag 70. strategy meant, among other things, ns substantially increased number of trains per hour , introduced intercity services. however, quite clear never return company profitability. nevertheless, company declared of national importance, meaning receive large amounts of subsidies every year.

reforms of 1990s

current headquarters, utrecht

in 1990s, government started question subsidies given ns. not there questions regarding way ns spent subsidies, but, after neo-liberal reforms of 1980s, considered not done award generic subsidies companies. government decided on verzelfstandiging of ns. (although technically, not case, instead refers here withdrawal of subsidies.) idea not rail transport economically viable, there competition well.

there 2 external circumstances allowed happen. firstly, european union passed directive 91/440, prescribed, among other things, (formal) separation of national railways 2 separate companies, 1 deals infrastructure, , other deals transport activities. secondly, old ceo of ns, leo ploeger, retired, allowed government name new ceo execute government s plans. new ceo rob den besten.

the plans entailed government remain responsible rail infrastructure, while ns provide (passenger) transport on commercial basis. services prove economically inviable, government subsidize route. division responsible infrastructure later turned ns railinfratrust.

to facilitate government plans commercial operation of ns, den besten planned split ns many smaller independent divisions. idea these smaller divisions better able respond market. plans, however, received massive opposition unions, meant divisions created ns reizigers, , locomotive maintenance company nedtrain. there other internal changes in company. route managers got de facto control on operation, dependent of different organ in company.

the freight sector ns cargo became part of deutsche bahn after merger railion in 2000.

these reforms never of success , left company in uncontrollable state. result company started decline rapidly, , employees started many unorganized strikes. following this, complete board of directors felt necessary resign in late 2001.

in 2002 karel noordzij named new ceo of ns mission restore confidence in company. in essence, did reversing reforms of late 90s , restoring company old state. meanwhile, government had changed opinion of railways, no longer considered competition on (passenger) transport viable goal. thus, government started commission railway operators run routes on network. ns granted (by national government) concession run on main lines, whereas other companies received number of concessions on secondary lines. goal give individual concessions individual lines, (at least) until 2025 ns holds concessions main lines.

symmetry minute

the timetable change on 10 december 2006 saw routes approximate symmetry time in clock-face schedules 1 used in other european countries. previously, different @ minute: 46 , led problems cross-border trains.

controversies

ns has been involved in various controversies.

technical problems high-speed fyra (v250) trains, started services on 29 july 2012, , ended on 17 january 2013, led resignation of ceo bert meerstadt in june 2013 , parliamentary investigation in 2015. high speed alliance hsa, daughter company of ns (90%) , klm (10%) went broke due late introduction of trains in combination high price concession company paid dutch government. hsa liquidated in 2015.
in 2013, appeared ns used daughter company in ireland, ns financial services company , evade taxes in netherlands. procedure determined lawful, unfavorable dutch taxpayers not believe nederlandse spoorwegen, operates fixed trains in netherlands, can irish. 1998 ns used favorable tax climate in ireland, resulted in profit of more 270 million euros. corporate tax in ireland 12.5%, in netherlands 25% @ time. dutch company ns used irish daughter buy new trains, among others high-speed fyra trains italian firm ansaldo breda. dutch minister of finance, jeroen dijsselbloem, wrote parliament ns stop tax evasion.
in 2015 became clear daughter company of ns, abellio, had shown unfair behavior regard tendering public transport in province of limburg. company had obtained confidential information competitor veolia through former employee of veolia had been hired daughter company of abellio, qbuzz. on 5 june 2015, became clear ceo timo huges of ns had given incomplete , incorrect information tendering procedure. according minister dijsselbloem, huges had acted sloppy, inaccurate , in violation of law. consequently, huges resigned position.




^ db , ns sign freight merger deal.(brief article)(statistical data included) . elibrary.ibtimes.com. international railway journal. 1 october 1999. 
^ ns-topman bert meerstadt stapt op . retrieved 5 june 2015. 
^ ns stopt met fiscale truc: treinen niet langer gekocht door ierse dochter . retrieved 5 june 2015. 
^ ns doet nog steeds zaken via de ierse route . nrc q. retrieved 5 june 2015. 
^ limburg gunt concessie openbaar vervoer aan arriva . retrieved 5 june 2015. 
^ nog meer problemen voor ex-ns-topman timo huges . retrieved 19 june 2015. 
^ ns-topman timo huges stapt op wegens mogelijk machtsmisbruik . retrieved 5 june 2015.