Punctuality in a busy railway network

A comparison between punctuality and track occupancy in eighteen countries shows that NS is one of the top three. The Netherlands has shared the top spot for many years now with Switzerland and Japan, both of which also achieve a high level of punctuality on heavily congested tracks.

Reputation

Our reputation is an indicator for the attractiveness of travel with NS. NS obtains regular measurements of its reputation using the RepTrak method (from the Reputation Institute). The reputation of NS weakened in the period 2010-2012. This fall was caused, among other things, by the performance of the railways in three successive winter periods, the tragic train accident in Amsterdam in 2012 and the developments around Fyra/V250. In 2014, the measurement of NS’s reputation rose to an average annual score of 53.5 (on a scale of 100). This positive development did not continue in 2015. The reputation score fell to 51.9. This was partly due to one or two major disruptions, the attention given to aggression against NS staff, the irregularities in the tender in Limburg and the parliamentary inquiry into Fyra.
In 2016, the reputation improved with a score of 55.2 (the target was 53). There were fewer serious disruptions in 2016. In addition, passenger punctuality was better than in 2015, resulting in a more reliable service for passengers. NS also attracted much less media attention compared with the previous year. The positive development in our reputation is also reflected in the development in customer satisfaction. Our target is a reputation score of 57 by 2019.

RepTrak Pulse score

Sustainable mobility

NS wants to be at the vanguard of sustainable mobility. However, in the eyes of the Dutch consumer, we are not a particularly sustainable brand. Train passengers do see our company and the train as more sustainable, but that is not the case for the Dutch public at large. That is why we want to improve our efforts in this area and make them clearly visible. A study by Dossier Duurzaam (2015) among consumers showed that consumers are increasingly interested in sustainability. They feel it is important for companies to operate sustainably and they take the sustainability of products into account when making purchases. Possible factors explaining this trend are increased media coverage of sustainability topics (the Paris climate summit, the lawsuit that Urgenda brought against the Dutch government, emissions-cheating software) and the greater visibility of sustainable products. The upturn in the economy is another reason why people are paying more attention to social issues. NS ended 17th in the list of major brands (16th in 2015). We achieved the same number of points as in 2015 but other companies achieved more points.
Research (in December 2016) among the Dutch population and rail passengers reveals that NS’s sustainable image has improved. For example, more respondents think that NS helps consumers make more environmentally friendly transport choices.

Emissions

30% of direct CO₂ emissions in Europe are caused by the transport sector, of which 1.5% comes from the railways (source: UIC, IEA). CO₂ emissions from the railways have decreased in recent years, whereas those from the transport sector as a whole have increased substantially. Emissions lead to global warming. During the Climate Conference in Paris in November, countries agreed to stay below an increase in temperature of 2 degrees. NS is contributing to this with its verified objectives for saving energy and becoming greener. As a result of these measures we have seen a reduction in CO₂ emissions by NS in the Netherlands over the last five years. Travelling by train is better for the environment than many other forms of motorised transport, given that the CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre are about 92.8% lower than for the average car. In terms of energy consumption, in 2016 NS was a good 35% below the European average of the UIC international railway norm of 0.11 kWh per passenger-kilometre.

Transparency

NS is in the permanent group that is assessed in the Transparency Benchmark. This is a tool provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for improving reporting on social matters within the Netherlands. The results are presented in a Transparency Ladder that is made publicly available and widely communicated. A score of 197 points out of 200 put NS in third place on the 2016 Transparency Ladder (2015: fourth). Our ambition is to stay in the top 10. The top 5:

1. Alliander

2. Schiphol Group

3. NS

4. Unilever

5. Nederlandse Gasunie