At the Dutch Railways, they must have a ‘blood dislike for travelers’, Hildebrand van Kuijeren tweeted from the Treinrondreis.nl website. Other Twitter users called the measure “downright ridiculous” and “bizarre”. After which the NS revoked a message that they had put on their website on Wednesday. No, it is not yet certain that people with an Interrail pass will be excluded from ICE trains to Germany next summer. But, they acknowledged, that is being considered.
It is certain that the NS and the German counterpart DB have a problem. Between mid-June and mid-August, they expect peak traffic in the ICE trains from Amsterdam to Germany. This also occurred last summer, when overcrowded trains sometimes had to pass the stations of Utrecht and Arnhem because no one could reach them anymore. The NS wants to prevent that this year.
One solution to this is to prohibit people with an Interrail pass from taking the ICE train to Germany from the Netherlands between six in the morning and four in the afternoon. With such a pass, passengers can travel freely by train almost anywhere in Europe for a fixed amount for a certain period of time. Some plan their journey well in advance, but others, especially young people, travel on spec and decide late which train to take. That can cause unforeseen crowds.
NS wants to provide clarity quickly
A boarding ban for Interrailers between six and four o’clock prevents this. That was also the message of the message on the NS site on Wednesday. “Very unhappy,” says an NS spokesperson now. “Because we’re not that far yet. We’re thinking about the question: is this possible and is it allowed?”
In any case, what will not happen is that travelers who have already registered for a specific train ride via the app will be ‘thrown off’, as the NS spokesman puts it. “We can’t do that, we’re not going to do that.” Those who have already bought an Interrail pass, but have not yet registered, may face restrictions – but that has not yet been decided. Do they get money back because their travel freedom is less than what they paid for? “We are still thinking about that as well.”
Fortunately, the premature announcement of Wednesday is that travelers can now take expected crowds into account in their plans well in advance, say the Dutch Railways. “If you want to go to southern Germany, you can decide to travel via Liège, for example.” It is the intention, says the spokesperson, that the NS quickly provide clarity about any restrictions.
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