People want to be able to travel quickly, safely, conveniently and at any time. NS is helping to make that possible. We provide a broad range of services that go beyond just the train. Our activities are always centred on our passengers. We work to provide them with comfortable, easily accessible and efficient journeys from door to door that can be based on timely and up-to-date information.
Our 36,600 staff (33,571 FTEs at the end of 2018) in the Netherlands and abroad work hard every day to achieve this. Together with our public transport partners, we work continuously on improving our services and on performance on the tracks, world-class stations, the customer experience and our own organisation. We are active in passenger transport and in station development and operation. We achieve revenues of €5.9 billion from that, 89% of which comes from passenger transport.
NS in the Netherlands and Europe
Ever since NS was founded – in 1837 as the HIJSM – we have been making a contribution to mobility and progress in the Netherlands. The company still plays a very significant social role in the domestic market. Since 2002, the NS subsidiary Abellio has been providing rail transport in parts of the United Kingdom and since 2009 in Germany, as well as bus services in London. We also provide international connections with Thalys, Eurostar, ICE, IC Brussels and IC Berlin.
Our organisation
NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen is at the head of a group that includes NS Operatie (approximately 14,600 staff), Commercie & Ontwikkeling (700), NS Stations (5,000 including retail) and Abellio UK (13,000), Abellio Germany (2,100) plus shared services such as HR, Finance and IT.
NS Operatie is responsible for rail transport on the Dutch main rail network, including HSL South. NS Operatie is the most visible part of NS. In addition to the staff on the trains and Safety & Service, it also covers maintenance, repairs, cleaning and upgrading our trains in the Netherlands, as well as making them more sustainable. In the Netherlands, NS transports 1.3 million passengers every day.
Commercie & Ontwikkeling (C&O) handles the development of train services and timetables in the medium and long term, as well as the sales and service activities associated with domestic and cross-border train transport. C&O is also responsible for customer service.
NS Stations works to create a good network of 402 stations, large and small. Together with ProRail, the public authorities and all the carriers, NS Stations aims to make the journey and the time spent in and around stations as pleasant and comfortable as possible. Over recent years, NS Stations has worked with ProRail and various municipalities to renovate major stations, emphasising that the stations should be ‘clean, intact and safe’. All activities – shops, services, facilities and transfer aspects – are designed to improve the passenger experience of the station and the journey.
Abellio UK acquires and runs rail and bus franchises in the United Kingdom (Greater Anglia, Merseyrail, ScotRail, West Midlands and Abellio UK Bus). 13,000 staff in the United Kingdom work together to transport 800,000 passengers a day.
Abellio Germany acquires and operates rail franchises only. In 2018, Abellio Germany was running six franchises in six contiguous federal states. Abellio Germany carries about 171,000 passengers a day. There are 2,000 employees working for Abellio Germany. Abellio Germany started operating the Dieselnetz Sachsen-Anhalt and Rhein-Ruhr-Express franchises in December 2018.
Organisation chart
Rail franchises in Europe
Click on a franchise for details.