Under the heading ‘Better and More’, NS and ProRail are collaborating on improving performance on the tracks. The objective is to make the railways as a transport product more attractive to passengers and freight transporters. This means increasing reliability of the train services (“Better”), making high-frequency services possible (“More”), achieving better customer performance at stations and improving the safety culture. One aspect of Better and More is the Approach to Train Improvement, in which we are working towards a high-frequency timetable along what is known as the ‘A2 corridor’ between Eindhoven and Amsterdam. A decision was taken in July to increase the frequency of train services in the 2018 timetable. In 2016 we also worked on:

• training train crews on a more stringent approach to driving and stopping

• preparation for boarding zones

• a customer campaign saying no more boarding after the whistle goes

• realising extra capacity for shunting trains

Long-Term Rail Agenda and stations

The Long-Term Rail Agenda (LTSA) put forward by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment gives a long-term vision for structurally improving travel by train in collaboration with all the parties involved. A key element is creating attractive and comfortable stations for passengers, carriers and municipalities. In the Approach to Railway Improvement, ProRail and NS have set out clear common targets for stations. Although ProRail and NS both have their own roles and responsibilities at stations, we are working together more closely than ever to make stations even more attractive. We are doing that together with our partners in the station zones, such as other carriers or local and other authorities. We already took several steps during 2016:

• We fitted a total of 66 large journey information screens at the four major stations to improve readability.

• We developed a dashboard with joint performance indicators (safety, customer satisfaction, reliability of the assets and sustainability).

• We analysed what quality improvements are possible at the stations along the Merwede-Linge line (compared to the current situation) in terms of customer satisfaction at those stations. This was done in close consultation with the provincial authority.

• Regarding bicycle services, we worked further on the first 24-hour concept with a pilot with self-service storage facilities. An agreement was also concluded with the authorities.

• We have developed a Station Plan that is optimised from the passenger perspective in terms of its visual and graphical elements. This setup will serve as the basis for the station plans for each individual station.