The FNV union has maintained its call for a 24-hour national strike in public transport this Wednesday, 9 September, despite negotiations with the government. According to a press release published on 4 September, the movement targets the Dutch cabinet's austerity plans on social security, which are deemed insufficiently scaled back despite a leak of the draft budget. FNV Spoor, FNV Streekvervoer and FNV Stadsvervoer are thus calling on rail, regional and urban transport staff to stop work across the entire country.
National rail operator NS confirms that no trains will run in the Netherlands during the strike, with the exception of the Airportsprinter link between Amsterdam Centraal, Schiphol airport Schiphol and Hoofddorp, maintained at a rate of four trains per hour. The urban networks of Amsterdam (GVB), Rotterdam (RET) and The Hague (HTM) are also affected, as are the Eurostar, ICE, EuroCity and Nightjet international rail services, which will not run any services on the Dutch network that day.
Strike timetables varying according to operators
According to the factsheet published by FNV, the walkout by NS and ProRail train crew runs from 2:00 on 9 September to 2:00 on 10 September. Infrastructure maintenance staff down tools from 22:30 the previous evening until 22:30 on 9 September. As for urban transport, GVB in Amsterdam is striking from 4:00 in the morning until the end of service, which also includes the suspension of ferry services across the IJ and the North Sea Canal.
A previous strike had already affected the Dutch railways in November 2024, limited at the time to three hours on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Schiphol line. The strike on 9 September is expected to be significantly larger, with a total shutdown of the national network for 24 hours.
Gradual resumption expected on Thursday
Network manager ProRail warns that delays are to be expected at the very beginning of the morning on Thursday 10 September, while rolling stock and staff are repositioned across the network. Schiphol airport Schiphol warned for its part that access to it would be made more difficult during the strike and recommends that travellers allow for a significantly longer journey time, as the road is bound to absorb a large share of the diverted traffic.
