Nederlandse Spoorwegen

NS' infrastructure division was split off into NS Railinfratrust. Plans to split the remainder of NS met with limited success due to trade union opposition; the new companies created were NS Reizigers and locomotive maintenance company NedTrain. Passenger transport was to be conducted on a commercial basis, but the state continued to subsidize non-viable routes. Internally, route managers assumed de facto control, but they were dependent on a different organ in the company The freight business, NS Cargo, merged with Deutsche Bahn; the resulting company operated as Railion in 2000 and then as DB Cargo. Performance deteriorated after the reforms, and the company suffered multiple unorganized strikes. The entire board of directors resigned in late-2001.

Another change in strategy followed. Karel Noordzij became CEO in 2002 and reversed many of the reforms to restore confidence in the company. The state no longer considered competitive passenger service to be viable, and began granting concessions with the goal of one concession per line. NS received a concession to run main line routes until 2025.

Recent years

The timetable change on 10 December 2006 saw the most routes to approximate the symmetry minute in clock-face schedules to the one used in most other European countries. The previous symmetry minute 46 led to problems with cross-border trains. As of December 2022 the company's CEO is former minister Wouter Koolmees, after Marjan Rintel left to become CEO of KLM.

NS was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused massive drops in passenger numbers. The company received significant financial support from the national government in order to keep the company solvent. In 2022, the company made significant cuts in its timetable, running fewer and shorter trains, as a consequence of personnel shortages.

4 October 2025 was the last day NS used locomotives in domestic passenger services. The last ones, which were running between The Hague and Eindhoven, were retired.

A Sprinter (SPR) calls at all stations, and is mainly used for local traffic. On some smaller lines, though, it is the only kind of service. The name is derived from the 'Sprinter' (2900 class) rolling stock; however, the service was sometimes operated using older style rolling stock (such as 'Plan V/T': 400, 500, 800, and 900 class). Since December 2019, all Sprinter services are run exclusively with Sprinter trains.

InterCity (IC) services only call at larger stations and were introduced in the 1970s to provide fast train connections throughout the country. Intercity services are operated by DDZ, VIRM and ICM class trains. An exception is the service between The Hague and Eindhoven, which uses the high-speed line between Rotterdam and Breda, which is run by the newly built high-speed ICNG, with the ICR coaches being retired as of October 5th 2025. When a line is not served by Sprinters, Intercity trains call at all stations. All station stops happen at Alkmaar – Den Helder, Hoorn – Enkhuizen, Zwolle - Deventer and Deurne – Venlo. Between Vlissingen and Roosendaal, one service does only call at Intercity stations, while the other calls at all stations. See also Intercity services in the Netherlands and List of Dutch Intercity stations. Keolis also runs one Intercity service an hour, between Zwolle and Enschede, the two largest cities in the province of Overijssel.

The Intercity Direct (ICD) service, which offers faster service between Amsterdam Centraal and Breda as it uses the high-speed line HSL-Zuid and calls at only two intermediate stations (Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam Centraal). Unlike other Intercity trains, the Intercity Direct requires payment of a supplement on top of the regular fare (€2.90 during peak hours and €1.74 during off-peak hours) if a passenger's journey involves the high-speed line between Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam Centraal. A regular Intercity service that is free of supplements is still offered. Trains are operated by ICNG. The Intercity Direct service stems from the failure of the Fyra service, which was canceled after the bad performance of the AnsaldoBreda V250 Fyra train sets, which were retired after only 40 days in service.

The EuroCity Direct (ECD) service, which, in cooperation with Belgian SNCB, provides a fast connection from Lelystad, via Amsterdam Zuid and Rotterdam to Brussels. This service runs both HSL-Zuid high-speed line and the Belgian HSL-4 high-speed line. Completing the whole route in about 3 hours, this service offers a faster alternative to the EuroCity (EC) from Rotterdam to Brussels. The trains being run on this service are called ICNG-B. They are easily recognizable from their bright yellow look.

There are also two former train categories, which are now used only by private operators:

Stoptrein (Stopping train): This is the original name for Sprinter trains. Between 2003 and 2013 NS discharged the Stoptrein formula in favour of Sprinter. Private operators do not use Sprinter so this name is still used by NS for private operators, although private operators often use RS, which is short for Regionaalsprinter (Regional Sprinter).

Sneltrein (Fast train): Sneltrein (in the English section of the old paper time tables, they were translated as "semi fast train" and were a class between Stoptrein and Intercity) was abandoned by NS in 2008. The NS Sneltrein services were not abandoned, but were called 'Intercity'. Over the years, some became Sprinters (like the services between Leiden and Utrecht), while most services were integrated in the Intercity network (like the service between Lelystad and Dordrecht). As of 2024, private operators use the term, along with the from Germany imported term RE, which is short for Regionaalexpress (Regional Express).

Divisions of NS

Abellio – the subsidiary for operations outside the Netherlands. Abellio has operated franchises in the United Kingdom and Germany.

In 2003, Abellio commenced operating its first rail concession in the United Kingdom, through its 50% shareholding in a joint venture with Serco, with Serco also holding 50%. From 2004 until 2016, Serco and Abellio also operated the Northern Rail franchise. In May 2009, the Travel London and Travel Surrey bus businesses were purchased from National Express and rebranded as Abellio London and Abellio Surrey.

In February 2012, Abellio Greater Anglia commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise, and in April 2015, Abellio ScotRail commenced operating the ScotRail franchise. In 2016, Abellio successfully bid to retain the renamed East Anglia franchise until 2025. Abellio partnered with Mitsui for both the East Anglia and the West Midlands franchises, the latter also with JR East. In June 2019 Abellio began operating the East Midlands Railway eight-year franchise.

In February 2023 Abellio sold its UK operations to Transport UK Group.

NS Reizigers (NSR) – NS Travellers, responsible for passenger train services and for employing train drivers and conductors.

NS Stations – the result of merging the former:

NS Stations – in charge of the operation of all 404 railway stations in the Netherlands, i.e., also those served by other railway companies than NS Reizigers; see also station facilities.

NS Vastgoed – owns 48 km2 of land, often near stations, and develops and operates these areas as public traffic nodes, offices and apartments.

NedTrain – train maintenance.

NS Commercie – product- and customer management (business and product development, marketing, sales and customer service).

NS International – operator, in conjunction with NS Reizigers and foreign partners, of Thalys (from Amsterdam to Paris), ICE (to Cologne, Munich and Frankfurt), Intercities (to Berlin) and Intercity Direct services (to Brussels via the HSL-Zuid) and the Nightjet (to Vienna and Innsbruck).

In dealing with the general public, these distinctions are not made and the terms Nederlandse Spoorwegen and NS are used.

NS has contracts with Connexxion and BBA, now Veolia Transport for the provision of bus services to replace train services in the case of planned and unplanned cancellations.

On 23 July 2010 NS sold Strukton to the construction company Oranjewoud N.V.. This concluded a long history of planning, designing and executing track development done by the NS.

Technological assistance for train staff

Conductors have a smartphone with a timetable, fares information, and a separate card reader to read the OV-chipkaart.

Train drivers use a tablet with an app called "TimTim" to save energy and keep up with the timetable. The train driver can also see other trains in front or behind their train.