We offer passengers various facilities at the stations so that they can spend their time there comfortably and make the most of that time. The station experience weighs in at 25% of the passengers’ assessment of their door-to-door journeys.

Customer satisfaction with stations

We use surveys to ask passengers what they think of a certain station. This is how we monitor the stations, know the points for attention and see which measures do and no not work for the passengers. This year, customer satisfaction with the stations increased from 67.2% in 2015 to 69.9%. 77.1% of passengers give a score of 7 out of 10 or higher to the stations undergoing renovations, breaking down as 72.1% for large stations and 61.8% for small stations. Last year's trend shows a constant steady growth.

A hospitable and pleasant stay

NS has worked closely with ProRail to improve the time spent at stations. We improved the waiting areas at 25 stations in 2016 by making them more comfortable, more sheltered and with more seats. In addition, the StationsHuiskamers (‘Station Living Rooms’) are also having a significant effect on how waiting time is experienced: they offer passengers a pleasant area where they can stay for a while that includes coffee, electricity sockets and a toilet. Four new StationsHuiskamers were built in 2016. In total, 10 stations (7 smaller and 3 larger ones) have a StationsHuiskamer. The aim is to expand the concept of StationsHuiskamers further.

Toilets at stations

The toilet facilities have been improved at 43 stations: at 25 of those, the outdated toilet areas were converted to modern toilet facilities with an eye for comfort, safety and accessibility. At larger stations, it is important that service staff are always present at the toilets: NS gave these toilets to Sanifair through a franchising tender. In 2016, toilets at 18 stations were converted to the ‘Sanifair concept’. Comfort and service at the toilets are key in this.

Station cleaning and maintenance

Daily cleaning is essential if the aim of ‘clean, complete and safe’ stations is to be achieved. Commissioned by and in agreement with ProRail, NS signed new cleaning contracts in 2016. These contracts pay extra attention to measuring how passengers perceive the cleanliness of stations and agreements have been made about the basic vocational training course “Station and platform cleaning” that cleaning organisation staff must follow. In addition, we have reduced the number of parties carrying out cleaning work at stations. This has resulted in a more controlled cleaning process and better quality for passengers.

Stations undergoing renovations

In 2016, rebuilding work was carried out at various major stations. ProRail and NS worked on the station underpass between the north and south sides of Eindhoven station. In Tilburg, the station was given a new passenger underpass and we are working on the bicycle storage, the shops on the city centre side and the old tunnel. The roof, which has listed status, is also being renovated. The second part of the IJ Concourse at Amsterdam Centraal was completed in June. The IJ Concourse is the second main entrance to the station, with shops, accommodation, restaurants and service shops.
Rebuilding work at Groningen, Assen, Ede-Wageningen and Driebergen-Zeist is now being prepared. In addition, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Schiphol, the Amsterdam Urban Region, ProRail and NS have started exploring the possibilities of renovating Schiphol Airport station. The start of the realisation is planned for 2021.

New and refurbished stations

After years of rebuilding work in collaboration with various partners, the refurbished stations at The Hague Centraal, Breda and Utrecht Centraal were opened fully again in 2016.

• In The Hague, the station hall was given a glass roof to let in more light and to provide a better view of the platforms for trams and buses.

• Breda Station offers several functions under one roof, such as public transport services and car parking, facilities for living, working, shopping and spending time in general.

• Completing Utrecht Centraal means that the most important project in the development of the centre of Utrecht and the largest transport hub in the Netherlands is now finished. Improvements in the city centre, the world’s largest bicycle storage facility (a total of 12,500 spaces), a new tram and bus station, the square and the neighbouring residential and work locations are still under way. The new Utrecht Vaartsche Rijn station came into service late in August. This station means that not all rail passengers need to travel via Utrecht Centraal.

• Harderwijk station, which has an important regional function, was opened in September.

Station heritage

Many stations have historic value. NS, ProRail and Bureau Spoorbouwmeester have determined the historic value of stations, which has been published online on spoorbeeld.nl. This so-called value statement gives an picture of the historic use of a station and serves as a starting point for renovations, extensions, management and area development.